She Runs With Wolves and Lions
by SophStratt
Summary: To the rest of Westeros, Lady Caryssa Stark was the true beauty of the North with a voice from the heavens. To her family, she was loving, kind and nurturing, and a fierce fighter. To strangers, she was cold like steel with a wall of ice around her heart that could not be broken. After marrying a Lannister, Caryssa learns what it is to be a wolf surrounded by lions. AU-ish.
1. Archery Lessons

**"All things truly wicked start from innocence."**

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**Chapter One**

**Winterfell**

Caryssa watched as her little brother pulled the bow string until it was taught underneath his fingers, watched to make sure that he counted his breaths before he released the arrow. It sunk into a barrel just to the left of the target, and little Bran stamped his foot in frustration. Her other two brothers, Robb and Jon, circled him, before Jon put his arms around him.

Caryssa supposed that she should be doing something more lady-like. Such as knitting or sewing or planning the future wedding that she was inevitably to have, as she was now nineteen years old. After all, she was Lady Caryssa of House Stark, eldest child to Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn Stark, the Beauty in the North. She hated that nickname. It always reminded her that she was seen as simply something to look at, a woman to marry a lord and bear his children. While she was not opposed to marriage, certain moments in her life had led to the belief that the only honourable men that still existed where those in her family and a few others in her household. So when she inevitably married, she did not want to marry some unpredictable stranger, but a man she knew had enough honour to respect her as a wife, a woman and a person.

So instead of sewing, Lady Caryssa was helping her brothers teach her second youngest brother archery, and thus far, they had been having very little success.

"Go on. Father's watching and your mother," Jon said, and Bran turned his head up to look at his parents standing on the balcony above, watching him with encouraging smiles. "Also, the Lady Archer watches, and as men, we cannot let our elder sister best us, Bran, or the other men will tease us relentlessly."

Bran looked towards his sister, as she leaned against a fence, her bright blue Tully eyes watching him, a beautiful smile on her lips. His sister was the best archer in Winterfell, everybody knew it. Some didn't like that a woman could wield a weapon, but most respected her for learning. Winter was coming, after all. Her smile turned into an encouraging one, a warmth in them that the woman only reserved for her family and loved ones, and she nodded at him to continue.

So he strung his arrow to his bow, pulled it taut again and released it, and they watched it as it flew over the target and cleared the fence behind it. Jon, Robb and Rickon laughed at their brother, as Bran sighed, getting even more frustrated.

"And which one of you was a marksman at ten?" Ned Stark questioned his sons, as all his children there at the time stared up at him in silence. He watched as his daughter came into view, raising her hand, a smirk on her face. Ned shook his head at her, knowing that she was right, but choosing not to say anything. His eldest child, his precious daughter, had begged him when her sixth name day was approaching to have a bow of her own and to learn how to wield it. He never could deny her anything. Not only was she his eldest, his first born, but she reminded him so much of his dead sister. They were both untameable Stark she-wolves, fiercely protective of their own, beautiful, but deadly if opposed. "Keep practicing, Bran. Go on."

Bran looked down, before he pulled strung his bow again. Except this time, long, pale fingers guided his hands, and he glanced behind him to see his sister.

"Remember what I taught you," Caryssa murmured into his ear, as she moved his hand towards his mouth, pushing his elbow down slightly, and nudging his feet apart. "Anchor your hand, relax your bow arm, breathe slowly and count the beats of your heart. Between the beat, is when you should release the arrow."

Caryssa stepped back, letting her younger brothers take control, and turned around to walk back to her leaning post, but spotted her younger sister, Arya, stringing a bow, getting ready to release the arrow. Caryssa immediately stepped to the side, out of her sister's way, but continued to walk towards her. Arya released her arrow, before Bran could, and it whizzed through the air before it sunk straight into the middle of the target.

The men all turned around sharply, trying to see who had made the shot.

"Take your bows, sister." Caryssa whispered to her, and Arya did so, curtseying and mocking her slightly younger brother. Caryssa's eyes narrowed in on the twitch of Bran's now clenched jaw, and stepped out of the way just before he threw his bow to the ground and launched himself at Arya, leaping over the fence and chasing her as she laughed and outrun him.

Caryssa laughed along with her brothers, moving to grab Rickon, settling him on her hip.

"When can I learn archery like you and Bran?" Rickon questioned, and Caryssa chuckled at him, pressing her lips to his cheek. Caryssa was like a second mother to her younger siblings, apart from Robb and Jon as they were closer in age. She felt it was her duty as the eldest to help her mother raise her siblings, teaching them and guiding them through life. Especially with Sansa and Arya. Caryssa helped Sansa become the young, civilised lady that she was, whilst encouraging Arya's wild personality as it reminded her of herself at that age. Catelyn Stark would say that if Caryssa were split into two different people, they would be Sansa and Arya.

"You, little pup, are too young, but when you are old enough, I promise that I will teach you." Caryssa promised, smiling at the beaming boy, kissing his cheek again, before placing him onto his feet.

"Why do you always call me pup?" Rickon asked, and Caryssa began to run her fingers through his light auburn hair.

"Because we are wolves, and you are the youngest. You are my pup, Bran, Arya and Sansa are my little wolves, Robb and Jon are my young wolves and I am the she-wolf. Mother is the Old She-Wolf and father is the Old Wolf," Caryssa explained, smiling down at him as he gave her all of his attention. "We are the wolves of the North, Rickon, don't ever forget that. Now, let's go help Robb and Jon collect the arrows."

Rickon immediately set off, anything to impress his older siblings, and Caryssa watched with a soft smile, as her youngest brother bounced around, though stopped when he held the arrows in his grasp. He remembered that his sister had warned him about hurting himself on the sharp ends. He picked up a few before he rushed back over to his sister, and handed them to her. Caryssa took them, and handed them to a distracted Jon.

He was staring upwards, and Caryssa followed his line of sight to see that her mother was glaring disdainfully down at him. She gave her mother a disapproving look, like always, and placed her hand on Jon's arm.

"We're wolves, we're strong and whether she likes it or not, you're part of this family. You are my brother, Jon, not my father's bastard, not my half-brother. You're my brother. Do not ever let her make you feel any different." She whispered, and Jon gave her one of his rare, beautiful smiles. Jon's smiles only ever seemed to be reserved for Caryssa and Arya. Jon didn't feel like he was a Stark, mostly because Lady Catelyn Stark seemed to push her husband's war transgressions from him to his guiltless child.

They worked on, collecting the arrows and putting bows away, when Theon Greyjoy, ward of Lord Stark, approached the three eldest Stark (and Snow) children and smirked.

"Go get ready for a ride. An oath breaker is being held awaiting the King's Justice. Bran is going with us as well." Theon announced, and Caryssa and Robb exchanged a concerned glance. Well, she gave Robb a concerned look and he shrugged his shoulders.

"He's too young to experience such things." Caryssa stated, and Theon gave her a smirk.

"You saw your first death when you were younger than Bran, if I remember correctly, Ryssa." He said, watching with glee as her eyes steeled with her anger, and her jaw muscles clenched.

"Speak of that again, Greyjoy, and your whore will have to find new business. Do we have an understanding?" Caryssa glared at the man, only a couple of years her senior, and he gulped, eyeing the dagger at her waist. Normally, she would carry a sword strapped to her hip, though she couldn't really use one. Jory had tried to teach her when she was a little younger, but she could never quite grasp it, so had stuck to her bow and dagger. The sword was simply a warning to any man who thought that they could easily attack her. "Run along, Kraken. Go find Bran and get him ready. I'll meet you all at the stables."

Caryssa did not like Theon. While she usually tolerated his sense of humour, as crude as it was, he did not seem to have an ounce of propriety or decency. There were two moments in her childhood that were seemingly traumatising. One was the first time she saw her father give the King's Justice and she had been nine. The other no one dared discuss in front of her or Lord Stark, as it was both traumatising and infuriating, and the very reason she carried a sword around with her.

She nodded to her brothers and stormed past Greyjoy, purposefully bumping shoulders with him roughly as she passed. Ryssa headed to her room, to put on a thick green wool dress, her fox fur cloak, pinning her wolf brooch to keep the material together, her leather gloves and to get her weapons. She tied her vambraces to her arms, and opened the oak trunk that held her weapons.

She supposed it was unladylike for her to wield a weapon, but she had learned that while it was not appropriate for her to carry a weapon, she could still die upon one. Caryssa did not like being unprepared for anything, so she always slept with a knife under her pillow, and carried a dagger always.

She pulled out the new weirwood bow that her father had commissioned for her last namesday, and the quiver of arrows that had come with it. When she was finished collecting everything that was necessary, she strode from her room, and hurried to the stables.

Her horse was already saddled and waiting for her upon her arrival. Her horse was a beautiful snow white steed that she had received on her twelfth namesday, which is why the steed bore the highly original name of 'Snow'. In truth, Caryssa had named her after Jon, because she wanted to show him how much she loved him, and always thought of him. Her father nodded to her from atop his horse, knowing that she was not happy that Bran was accompanying them, and she mounted her horse and followed him out of the stables.

She just hoped that Bran was as ready to see the execution of a man, deserter though he may be, as the men believed him to be.


	2. Stags, Direwolves and Ravens

**Do not seek death. Death will find you,**

**But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment.**

**-Dag Hammarskjöld**

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**Chapter Two**

**Winterfell**

A large group of twenty two riders rode to watch a man be punished as a deserter and oath-breaker. Twenty one men, and one woman. It was Bran's first time seeing his lord father carry out the king's justice, and the woman of the convoy was less than happy about it.

Robb Stark's eyes kept flittering to his sister as she rode sullenly beside him, the only sound coming from her direction being Snow occasionally tossing his head. He knew that she was worried about Bran, about what their father had told them of the oath breakers claims. He also knew that half the guards that were accompanying them, and Theon, would watch his sister as she rode her horse, and by the looks in their eyes he could tell that they were picturing something else entirely.

Robb knew what people said about his elder sister. The Beauty of the North, the Northern Nightingale, they called her, and she was, beautiful in both body and voice, but Robb did not like that everyone else knew about it. They would say that her beauty easily rivalled the Queen's, and outmatched all of the women in the North, but it didn't mean that their compliments made Robb, or Caryssa for that matter, happy.

Caryssa and Robb often described themselves as two halves of a whole, twins even. They loved each other, needed each other, not in a romantic sense, but in the way a person loves and needs their own soul. Robb and Caryssa may have been two years apart in age, but they were kindred spirits, both bound by duty as the eldest children of their house to mature before their time and help their parents to run the land.

So when Robb caught men ogling the other half of him, his dear sister, it frustrated him, even though he knew that it couldn't be helped. Caryssa truly was the Beauty of the North, what with her glorious dark mane of hair, her icy blue eyes and perfect, porcelain skin. He knew that his father had been ignoring proposals of marriage on her behalf for quite a few years. Caryssa was a true daughter of the North, a she-wolf, wild and untameable, cold and fierce. She didn't want marriage so soon in her life.

His sister had always told him that she deemed marriage to be a cage, and that wolves did not do well in cages, though she accepted her fate. She was a beautiful high-born lady of a noble house, and she would have to marry someday to solidify ties between their house and another. It was just the way things were. They both dreaded that day, as she would have to leave Winterfell and join her husband wherever he may be, and they would be lost without each other. They had never been separated before and would not welcome the day they were.

"I don't like this. Bran is too young." Caryssa said, unknowingly breaking her brother out of his thoughts of her. She turned her gaze to him, her blue eyes always seeming as though they could see into the very depths of a man's soul, and found his eyes already on her.

"We were much younger than Bran when we first witnessed the King's Justice. We survived it, and you're a girl, for pity's sake! Bran will be fine!" Robb pointed out, and Caryssa rolled her eyes at him, before sighing.

"We are different to Bran. We are the eldest. We needed to be steeled for the harsh realities of this world. I will be a wife one day to a great lord or knight, and you will be Lord of Winterfell," Caryssa grimaced, thinking of her bleak future. "Bran doesn't have the same responsibilities as we do."

"Winter is coming, Ryssa. You know that." Robb replied, and Ryssa glared at him.

"I know our words, brother, but that does not mean that I have to like it, or this." Caryssa snapped, turning her face away from him to gaze ahead, realising that they were nearing their destination.

Neither Stark said anything as their father and the rest of the party to their destination; twenty men and one woman travelling to see a beheading of a deserter. Ryssa looked forwards, and caught sight of her lord father. Lord Eddard Stark rode grimly forward, his long-ish brown hair stirring in the wind. Caryssa noticed that her father looked tired, older. He never enjoyed delivering the king's justice. Usually he was laughing. Surrounded by his children, his wife, his trusted friends, Ned Stark would laugh and it would light up his face, but more recently, Caryssa noticed, he looked very much like the other miserable lords she had heard of. He was more grim in the face of the impending Winter.

When the northerners did reach their destination, Caryssa stood herself behind Bran, next to Robb, but before Jon, waiting as the oath breaker was brought forward. Ryssa took in the traitor as he shifted forward, muttering about the white walkers. She noticed that he looked very beaten, in every sense of the word, with cracked lips and an altogether haggard exterior. It made Caryssa wonder what he had truly seen. Most men who took the Black understood the consequences of breaking their vow, and very few men ran away. Most were rapers or murderers or thieves who would otherwise lose a body part or their life, so gladly chose to freeze their arses off on the Wall. So whatever the man had seen, Caryssa mused, must have been worse than the harsh temperatures or a beheading.

Ryssa listened as the deserter spoke to her father, of the white walkers (which sent chills down her spine, shivers of dread), of his family and how he was no coward. Throughout the whole speech, Ryssa's face as a mask of cold indifference, one which Robb and Jon quickly learned to adopt. When he was finished, she watched her father nod to Theon, who brought him his sword, and the guardsmen forced the deserter to his knees in front of the weirwood stump, already stained with the blood of other oath breakers and traitors.

"In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, the first of his name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and protector of the realm, I, Eddard of the House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, sentence you to die." Her father muttered the same speech he always had to, and Rowena braced herself.

Yet, as Lord Stark raised his sword, Caryssa wrapped her arms around Bran's shoulders, unable to contain her need to support him. She felt his body tense, and his heart race underneath her hands, as their father swung his sword. With one easy swing, the man's head dropped to the floor, staining the ground with red. Caryssa stared, transfixed on the spot where the earth was now greedily drinking the blood of the dead, before she blinked, letting her brother go, but leant down towards him.

"You did well, little wolf. I am proud of you." Caryssa whispered into his ear, before placing a small kiss on the top of his head.

She was the first to walk away, never having liked the sight of the dead. She mounted her steed, and waited for her father to finish talking to Bran, most likely regurgitating the same speech he had given her, Robb and Jon on their own first times. 'The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword', a line that she had always remembered since.

Once her father mounted his horse, they were off again, heading back to Winterfell. Caryssa rode at the head of the party, instead of with Robb, and her brothers noticed immediately.

"Why is Caryssa riding so far ahead? Why is she not riding beside you?" Bran questioned Robb, as all four Stark men, and a Greyjoy, watched the lone woman atop her snowy white horse.

"Women are complicated creatures, little lord, and it never ends well to start questioning them." Theon remarked, and Robb wanted to give him a dirty look, that was his sister he was talking about, but knew that Theon told the truth. Women were complicated creatures, something he knew all too well living with four of them.

"While your sister is fierce when she is training with your brothers, Bran, she also has a gentle soul. She does not like death," Lord Stark told his son, who nodded at him, as if he heartily agreed with his sister. Death was not something enjoyable in the little boy's eyes. "She is the perfect balance of warrior and maiden. She is strong and gentle, wise and wilful, wild and contained. She will make a challenging woman to be wed to."

"She doesn't want to leave Winterfell." Robb said quickly, as though he were trying to dissuade his father from any further thoughts of marrying his sister off to some old lord somewhere far away.

The men rode in silence from then on, their eyes watching the woman galloping ahead of them, seeming to be one with her horse. She was a true Northerner, a skilled horsewoman, wolf blood flowing through her veins. Ned had to sometimes blink to remember that she was his daughter and not his sister. Caryssa was so much alike Lyanna, both in body and in soul. They were both as wild and unrestrained as the Northern frost. His youngest, Arya, was also like his late sister, but in personality only. Caryssa possessed Lyanna's beauty, which worried him immensely. His sister's beauty had started a rebellion, and her death. That was the reason his daughter was still unmarried. Ned did not want to lose his daughter the same way he lost his dear sister.

"Father!" Caryssa's startled voice called to him, breaking him out of his silent reverie.

The men sped forward, catching her up as she dismounted across a stone bridge, having stopped in front of a dead stag with its stomach ripped open. The lady was inspecting the area around the stag, when the men dismounted as well, eyeing the dead creature with interest. Her father approached it, his eyes flickering from the stag to his daughter. She looked upset, but her sparkling blue eyes betrayed her burning curiosity.

"What is it?" Jon questioned their father.

"Mountain lion?" Theon suggested, though it was only slightly plausible.

"There are no mountain lions in these woods." Lord Stark replied, dismissing his ward's theory, and then he noticed his daughter had begun to walk into the forest, her eyes scanning the ground. His own eyes dropped to the ground, and noticed the blood trail that led to where Caryssa was heading. Thankfully, she had drawn her dagger from its sheath, ready to defend herself. Ned followed his daughter, his three sons and his other men following behind him, all withdrawing their swords.

He heard his daughter gasp, and he quickened his pace, until he spotted her crouched by a very different, very wrong, very dead animal. Ned and Jon crouch down in front of the beast, either side of the woman.

"It's a freak."

"Oh, and I suppose a kraken isn't a freak? This, Greyjoy, is a direwolf." Caryssa snapped at him, not taking her eyes off the beautiful, dead creature and her six adorable pups.

"Tough old beast." Her father said, yanking the horn of the stag out of the dead mother's chest. Caryssa flinched slightly, as her father tossed the horn over his shoulder and she felt the breeze of it as it flew past her. A dead stag's horn in the neck of a dead direwolf…Caryssa could only take that as an omen, but didn't voice her dark thoughts aloud, lest she be laughed at by the men for being too superstitious.

"There are no direwolves south of the Wall." Robb stated, as though the scene in front of him became completely inaccurate just by that knowledge alone.

"Now there a six," Jon said, picking one up and passing it to Bran. Ned watched as his daughter picked up a pup of her own, an almost pure white one with patches of grey spotted randomly on its coat, smiling at it as it attempted to lick her face. His wife was not going to like this. "You want to hold it?"

"Where will they go? Their mother's dead." Bran said, already growing attached to the adorable creature in his arms.

"They don't belong down here." Ser Rodrik said, and Caryssa's head snapped towards the man, a sinking feeling in her stomach, and she clutched the pup closer to her heart at the implication. He surely wasn't suggesting what she thought he was suggesting, was he?

"Better a quick death. They won't last without their mother." Her father said, standing, and Caryssa's eyes widened, before she turned to glare at Greyjoy as he almost gleefully jumped down beside Bran and reached out to take the pup in the boy's arms.

"Right. Give it here."

"No!" Bran cried, as Theon snatched the direwolf pup.

"Put away your blade." Robb ordered, and Theon looked at him, scoffing at his 'future lord of Winterfell' tone of authority. It was one of the reasons that Caryssa had always hated Theon. His family were traitors, and her father had taken him in as a kindness, yet he managed to become entitled and arrogant regardless. It infuriated her to no end.

"I take orders from your father, not you." Theon replied, and went to say more until he felt the cold feel of steel at his throat. He turned his head slowly to spy the Lady Archer holding her sword at his neck, a pup in her free hand and a deadly ice in her eyes that spelled trouble for him if he did not comply.

"That may be, but not even the King will be able to save you if you do not put away your blade, Greyjoy. Just remember, there is no place on this earth where you could hide that I would not find you," Her voice retained the pleasant, soft quality it always had, but had a dark, deadly tone to it that sent shivers down all of the men's spines. There was nothing more frightening than an angry woman, especially an angry Stark woman. "Give the pup back to Bran or lose your head."

Theon masked his own apprehension, but didn't relinquish his hold on the pup. He was waiting orders from his lord, who had a look on his face that was a cross between amusement at his daughter's threats and irritation that she was threatening his ward yet again. He knew that there was no love lost between the pair, but he had hoped that it would eventually get better as they grew older. Yet it seemed that they had only gotten worse with age. Or at least Caryssa had. As his daughter grew more beautiful with each passing year, he had noticed his ward take more notice of her, but he was just one of many who did, and more likely had less chance than the butcher's son.

"Lord Stark!" Jon called, as their father was walking away, getting his attention. "There are six pups. One for each of the Stark children. Three males, three females. The direwolf is the sigil of your house. They were meant to have them."

Caryssa didn't lower her blade until she was certain her father was going to concede to their wishes. Even then she didn't lower her blade until after he had finished telling them that the pups were going to be trained by them, and that they alone would bear the responsibility for their fates. Once Theon had passed Bran his pup back, he looked pointedly at the sword still held to his throat.

"Aren't you going to put this away, before someone gets hurt?" Theon questioned, and Caryssa arched a brow at him.

"As you wish, but next time, perhaps I won't hesitate," Caryssa smirked darkly at him, before turning her attention to Jon, who was direwolf-less. "We can share this pup. I don't feel right having one when you do not."

"I'm not a Stark." Jon replied, and tried to ignore the upset look on his sister's face. He knew that it hurt her when he himself separated himself from her family with harsh words, because in her eyes, he was much of as Stark as she was.

She turned her back on him, and began the short trek to her mare, until she noticed that Jon had not followed the rest of them. She twisted her head to look back, and saw that John had a pure white, tiny direwolf in one hand.

"The runt of the litter. That one's yours, Snow." Theon said, smirking at him.

"Close that needless hole you call a mouth, Greyjoy. Shit keeps falling out of it." Caryssa said, resuming the short journey back to her horse, leaving her three brothers and the idiot Theon behind her. She sheathed her sword, and put it back into her saddlebags, and then awkwardly remounted her horse with the pup in one arm. As soon as she managed to get herself seated comfortably again in her saddle, the direwolf pup yipped excitedly and caused Caryssa to laugh.

"I shall name you…Rhaenyra." Caryssa said to the pup and it barked happily at her in response.

Winterfell would not know what hit it when they brought these direwolf pups home.

* * *

Her mother came to her with news from King's Landing. Caryssa was then sent to the Godswood to break the bad news to her father. Ned Stark and his eldest daughter were always close, being that she was his firstborn, and were each other's confidantes. Catelyn was always there for her husband, in all things, but sometimes, she knew, he needed his daughter's comfort more than hers. Caryssa was softer than she was, more comforting, more like the cold, falling snow than the harsh, freezing ice. So instead of going to the Godswood herself - she still felt like an outsider in front of the old gods, despite having six Northern children - she sent her daughter, knowing that she could break the news gently.

So Caryssa made the trip to the woods alone, listening to the soft crunching of the fallen leaves under feet and staring at the small scroll in her hand. Her father was sitting in front of the Heart Tree, cleaning his sword, Ice, from the earlier execution. He never failed to feel guilty after an execution, especially when it came to men who had fled from the Wall and their vows out of fear, like the man today had.

He didn't look up, though she knew he had heard her approach.

"I can still remember the first time I came out here to find you cleaning your sword. You placed it on the ground, pulled me up onto your knee and told me that you were going to ride off into a war." Caryssa said, a soft, sad smile played on her lips as she remembered that particular memory.

Ned looked up at his daughter as she strolled ever closer to him, her blue Tully eyes not on him, but on something far away, lost in her own memory. He remembered that moment too, being one of his hardest moments. Leaving behind his wife and two year old had been difficult for him, harder than he had expected it to be. Even as she toddled around, a precious little dark haired babe, she had been far too intelligent for him to just leave and come back without her notice. He'd had to explain to her, his small, beautiful girl, that he had a duty to his friend, that he had to ride into a war to remove a mad king from his throne, to save his sister, her aunt. He remembered how she had cried silently, her large, wide eyes making him feel the most incredible guilt.

"I'm surprised you remember, you were still only a babe." Ned replied, watching her as she seemed to glide towards him, her eyes now fixed on the tall, white Heart Tree behind him. Caryssa always seemed at home in the woods, in nature, and he had always assumed it was due to the Northern blood that ran through her veins.

"I remember the pain of it, but also the pride. My father…saving the realm from the evil king. I worshipped you, you know," Caryssa smiled widely, finally turning her gaze to her lord father, a twinkling of amusement in her unusually sad eyes that made a smile spread on his face. "A fearsome, intimidating warrior, a man that men would gladly fight and die for. I may have been but a child, but I was always proud of you, father."

"As I have always been of you, daughter."

It was only then did Ned spy the rolled up parchment in between her hands, and her sad expression, but it wasn't sadness for herself. It was for him, he noticed. Caryssa saw where his gaze had gone to, and looked down at her hands, fiddling with the parchment.

"I'm so sorry, father." She said simply.

"Tell me."

"There was a raven from King's Landing. Jon Arryn is dead. A fever took him. I know how dear he was to you. It says it was quick, he didn't suffer too much." Caryssa said, emphasising the last of her words, trying to give her father that small comfort.

"Your aunt, the boy?" Ned questioned, pushing his own grief, as debilitating as it was, aside for the moment, needing to know that Jon Arryn's family were well and looked after.

"They both have their health, gods be good," Caryssa said, as she took a seat on the only stone seat left in front of the Heart Tree, close enough for her to reach out to her father should he need her. He remained stoic, working through his emotions quietly in the same solitary way he always had, the same way she had learned to. "The raven brought more news."

Her father's head snapped back towards her, and she gave him a moment, before she continued to speak.

"The king rides for Winterfell, with the Queen, his children and all the rest of them."

"If he's coming this far north, there's only one thing he's after." Ned replied, looking towards his daughter, whose face had become an emotionless mask. She had perfected that over the years, withholding the emotions that she thought would only add to the burdens already on his shoulders, he knew. They were always open with each other, but his daughter was always a complicated character.

"My father…the Hand of the King. Winter is truly coming," Caryssa said, her voice hiding her emotions as well as the stoic expression of her face. "You could always say no, father. King Robert would understand."

"Only a fool says no to a king." Her father replied, and she shook her head at him.

"No. Only a fool would walk willingly into the lion's den."

Both father and daughter knew that while Robert was king, it was the Lannister's who had overall control, with their money and their lioness on the throne as Queen. Aye, a man, or woman, would surely be a fool to walk into the lion's den, and the Stark's were not fools.

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**A/N:**

So this is chapter two, thanks for giving it the time of day and everything, I hope you enjoyed it.

What do you guys think of Caryssa so far? I don't know what a Mary Sue is, but I've come to understand that it's not a good thing for your OC to be one. So if she is, let me know what a Mary Sue is for starters, and then let me know what I can do to change that.

Oh, and I've decided that this fic will be updated every Wednesday and Sunday, so this is the last Thursday update you'll see. Since I'm in a total Game of Thrones mood, I'm focusing on this fic, so my others will be put on the back burner for a while, until I regain the passion to write them.

Thanks to the following awesome people for their kind reviews on the first chapter:  
**Narsilla Lyanna Elendil, Cooky Crumbla **(awesome name btw)**, KrazyKeke, LittleNK, Forever Fanfiction Lover22, Soaring Hawk1, and waterbender19. **Thank you guys so much, I hope you review again on this chapter, and I hope that any other readers feel okay enough to drop a review here as well.

Til next time guys,

**_SophStratt._**


	3. The She-Wolf and the Lion

**"Amid such contrary winds, in a frail bark,**

**I find myself at sea without a tiller, **

**so light of wisdom, so laden with error,**

**that I myself do not know what I want;**

**and I shiver in midsummer, burn in winter."**

**- Petrarch**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**Winterfell**

The King was coming to Winterfell, and was now only hours away.

Caryssa was unsure how she felt about it. After all, it would mean that her father, and possibly some of her younger siblings, would have to leave Winterfell and go to King's Landing. Half the wolves would be leaving the den before winter came, and, in her opinion, that was just plain foolish.

She'd had to help her mother with all the preparations so she hadn't been able to spend much time with her brothers and sisters. She, Arya and Bran hadn't done much archery, she and Robb hadn't been out riding recently or spending nearly every waking moment together, she and Jon hadn't sat in companionable silence or had their quiet, private conversations about everything and nothing all at the same time, and she and Sansa hadn't spent time talking about princes, knights and fairytale romances for quite some time.

Consequently, Caryssa found herself tired and dreadfully bored.

Which is why when the morning came for the King's expected arrival, she was dressed quickly in a pale blue dress, one Sansa had made for her, made of thick blue cotton with blue lace and blue silk over the top to make it look prettier. Sansa had a better eye for making beautiful things than Caryssa had. Caryssa could sew well enough to mend clothes and make shirts for her father and brothers, but dresses and gowns were far beyond her skill.

Her mother had come in to her room early that morning and brushed her long, silky raven locks, deciding to just leave her slightly waved hair to just fall to her lower back with a couple of small braids at the front to keep her hair out of her face, promising they'd do something more elaborate for the feast that night.

Today, her mother had decided, they would leave first impressions to be made by her natural beauty.

Caryssa was now pulling her cloak across her shoulders, resettling her necklace around her neck, and making sure that her direwolf brooch hadn't been moved or twisted where it was pinned on her dress, just under her bosom. Once she had deemed herself suitable, she went to make sure that youngest children were ready. Sansa would have undoubtedly been dressed and waiting impatiently for a couple of hours now, and Robb, and Jon were capable of seeing to themselves. No, Caryssa headed to Arya's room, making sure she was dressed, her hair wasn't a wild mane and her face was clean.

Arya groaned and moaned, and fought her the whole way, but soon became cooperative once Rowena promised to practice her fighting skills when she had a moment to spare.

"Remember you promised. I'm only letting you play doll with me because you promised you'd convince Jory to give me sword lessons. I hate acting like a girl, it's so…Sansa." Arya said, before letting out a yelp when Caryssa accidentally tugged her hair too sharply as she braided it. The elder girl muttered an apology, before continuing her mission.

"Just be thankful it was me who came looking for you, little wolf. Had it been Septa Mordane, the hair pulling would have come with a lecture and nothing beneficial for you at all. You have gotten the better bargain, Arya," Caryssa pointed out to her, as she tied the last of the third braid she had just finished, after having twisted one into a bun in the middle of her head, and draping the other two over her shoulders. "There. Done. Now, put on your cloak and I'll let you wander around the castle, until the king is in sight."

Arya beamed, before rushing with Nymeria to grab her cloak.

With one little wolf done, Caryssa went to find Bran. She checked his room, and upon finding him missing, she knew exactly where he would be. She strode off, venturing outside, eyes on the walls, Rhaenyra suddenly at her heels. She had left her in the kitchens that morning, the kitchen staff happily playing with her and feeding her scraps that wouldn't be used for the feast that night, but apparently the pup, that had grown twice her size in the month Caryssa had had her, had been kicked out and had searched the castle for her mistress.

Rhaenyra seemed to find her brother before Caryssa spotted hers, as the pup suddenly darted forwards, leaving Caryssa to follow in amusement. The little unnamed direwolf (Bran had yet to decide on one) was sat, tail wagging, staring up at a tower and Caryssa rolled her eyes as she immediately understood where her little wolf was.

It seemed her mother, who was blowing through the castle like a storm, with Maester Luwin following dutifully behind her, also spotted the direwolf and then her son, who was swinging down the side of the tower like it was second nature to him. Which it was. Caryssa liked to joke that Bran was more monkey than wolf sometimes.

"Brandon!" Catelyn Stark called, and Bran's dark head snapped to the location of the voice, and Caryssa laughed. He didn't slip once. Her little wolf was always so surefooted and nimble.

"I saw the king. He's got hundreds of people." Bran said, excitedly, as he continued to lower himself down the side of the castle wall.

"How many times have I told you? No climbing." Catelyn scolded her son, whilst Caryssa tried to hide her amused expression, so that she didn't undermine her mother's parenting. Bran would never stop climbing. He just wouldn't.

"But he's coming right now, down our road." Bran replied, dropping to the thatch roof, before he continued his descent. Caryssa moved forward to pluck him down from a beam, kissing his cheek and laughing at him, before setting him down, before he could fuss about her showing him sisterly affection. Bran was a stubborn child that wanted to be treated like a man, like his two elder brothers. He didn't enjoy his sister's more motherly affections.

Catelyn bent over to be at eyelevel with her son, looking into his dark eyes with her light ones, and trying to convey her seriousness.

"I want you to promise me, no more climbing." She insisted.

Bran looked down at his feet, a sign that he was lying, and Caryssa's lips curled up into a smirk.

"I promise." Bran said, as his mother straightened, looking more amused by his 'solemn vow' than he had expected. He looked up at his sister, standing at his side, and noticed the same amused expression his mother wore, which just confused him.

"Do you know what?" Catelyn asked.

"What?" Bran questioned, still suffering from his confusion.

"You always look at your feet before you lie," Caryssa stated, ruffling his hair as they chuckled together. Their mother smiled warmly at her children, and then told Bran to go and tell his father that the king was close. Bran rushed off, with his direwolf pup in tow, and Caryssa turned to her mother. "He won't stop climbing. He's a Northern spirit. He follows his feet and his curiosity. He'll grow out of it one day, though."

"You haven't. Your father told me that you were the one that found the direwolf puppies. You will make an interesting wife for a great lord someday. He would not know what to do with your curiosity." Her mother said, giving her that same exasperated look she always did. The one that made her feel slightly bad for being a slightly difficult daughter. She took after the Stark side than she did the Tully's, apart from her blue eyes. The wilderness of the North ran through her veins, she could not help it any more than she could help breathing.

Her mother didn't say anything more on the subject, simply gesturing for her to follow and Caryssa did as she was told.

They dropped Rhaenyra off in her room. Her mother had deemed it 'an accident waiting to happen' for the direwolves to join them in greeting the King and his entourage, so they would be left in their rooms. They then went to gather everyone. Caryssa hunted Robb, Jon and Theon, thankful that they were dressed and ready when she found them in Robb's room.

"The King approaches. Mother wants us to go and get-Did you shave?" Caryssa questioned, seeming to forget all of her mother's instructions upon seeing all three of the young men without any of their usual facial hair.

"Your mother made us." Jon said, clearly not happy, as his fingers toyed with his shorter hair. Jon loved his hair, the dark, unruly curls that reminded him he was a Northman, a Stark. His curls came from his father's family, one of the things that connected him to his family.

Caryssa walked further into the room, towards Robb, and cupped his face between her hands and smiled widely at the softness of skin underneath her fingers. Seeing his face shaved reminded her that he was actually younger than her, that he was still only ten and six years old, and not a true man.

"I remember this boy. You look so much younger now, much more like the little brother who used to cling to my skirts, while he tried to toddle around after me." Caryssa teased him, planting a noisy kiss on his cheek, laughing and enjoying his embarrassment as he batted her hands away from him. He probably felt some sort of relief when she moved onto Jon.

"Your hair still looks wonderful, Jon. A lot less wild. The Southern women shall fall at your feet, brothers," Caryssa said to them, affectionately ruffling Jon's hair, and kissing his forehead. She smiled at them, her two boys, not Theon, before gesturing to the door. "Now come along. We need to be standing with father when the King arrives."

Robb and Jon rose together, and held their arms out to her. She took them both, looping her arms through theirs, and together the three eldest Stark children (Caryssa refused to discredit Jon's validity as a Stark) walked to the castle gates where their family waited for them.

Caryssa took her place as the eldest next to her father, with Robb beside her and Sansa beside him. Bran was at the very end. Rickon, as the youngest, stood beside their mother, whilst Jon and Theon stood behind them, as they were not considered (by Lady Stark) to be apart of the family. Caryssa noticed the lack of Arya's presence before her mother did, but she did not worry as she knew that Arya was most likely getting a closer look before joining them.

"Where's Arya? Caryssa, Sansa, where's your sister?" Their mother questioned, and both girls shrugged.

As though she knew that her name had been mentioned, Arya hurried forward, trying to sneak the helmet she wore past her father, but he grabbed her arm and stopped her in front of him.

"What are you doing with that on?" He questioned, pulling it off the girl's head. Robb and Caryssa chuckled at her, as the girl groaned when her father sent her to her place in line. Caryssa watched her father pass the helmet backwards to Ser Rodrik, before they all stared forwards again, waiting.

The visitors suddenly poured through the gates, a river of gold and silver, both the banners of House Baratheon and of House Lannister fluttering in the Northern winds. Together, stags and lions rode forth into the cold den of the wolves.

Caryssa instantly recognised the prince, though she had never seen him before. Sansa had talked about him often enough, though she had only heard talk of him too, that Caryssa felt as though she could pick him out in a crowd of a hundred men. He was not as handsome as her sister and many others described. Rowena felt a nudge at her side, and looked at Robb, who gestured to Sansa. Their little sister was staring adoringly at the prince, who was giving her similar looks. Neither Robb nor Caryssa were pleased about that particular development. The prince was flanked by a member of the Kingsguard, and the Hound, if his armour were anything to go by.

Caryssa caught eyes with the knight cloaked in white and gold, and recognised him. Jaime Lannister was his name, the Queen's twin brother. A smirk settled on his face as he caught her staring, but she did not look away like he obviously expected her to. Caryssa's blue eyes stayed fixed on his green ones, and scrutinised the lion. She suddenly felt like all those stories she had heard whispered about the handsome oath breaker did not do him justice.

* * *

Jaime Lannister wondered why the eldest Stark girl had not turned away when he had caught her staring at him. Most women did, often blushing as they did so, but not this one. She just kept staring, her ice blue eyes seeming to search his for something that neither of them knew what, until disinterest flashed in her eyes. He saw it. She was not interested in him, and dismissed him without a word or greeting. Jaime was not used to such a rejection, and from a woman he had yet to talk to, and that interested him all the more.

* * *

Caryssa's eyes were drawn away from the Kingslayer by a wooden coach adorned with red and gold, flying the banners of House Lannister, was drawn in next, and Caryssa guessed that some of the ladies of the court, and the Queen, were within. Caryssa could think of nothing worse than being stuck inside a dark carriage for hours upon hours instead of riding on horseback, as free as the wind.

A man flanked by more of the Kingsguard rode in next, and Caryssa assumed that it was the king, though he was nothing like her father had described. Ned Stark had described a tall, slim, fearsome warrior, but the man who they were knelt before now was shorter and fatter, not one bit the brilliant soldier he had once been. It was disappointing to say the least. Caryssa kept her eyes to the ground, when everyone bent the knee at the sight of the king, but heard clearly the king's footsteps as he approached them.

He stopped right in front of her father, and then gestured for them to rise. Ned Stark rose first, his wife, his children and the rest of his house following after him. Caryssa kept her face down, her eyes on the ground at her feet. Her father had warned her that he did not know what the king's reaction would be to her, as she looked so much like her aunt, the woman the king loved. So until it was her turn to greet the king, she would keep her eyes on the ground so her father could greet his old friend properly.

"Your Grace." Her father said, bowing his head in respect.

"You've got fat." The king said, and Caryssa bit her lip to stop herself from laughing as she saw, out of the corner of her eye, her father nod his head at the king's swollen stomach.

Both men laughed, and then embraced each other warmly, and Caryssa smiled at her brother as she looked towards him, still keeping her head low. The king then embraced their mother, and ruffled Rickon's hair affectionately.

"Nine years…Why haven't I seen you? Where the hell have you been?" The king questioned his old friend.

"Guarding the North for you, Your Grace. Winterfell is yours." Their father said. Caryssa heard Arya ask where the 'Imp' was, referring to the Queen's younger brother, Lord Tyrion Lannister, and heard Sansa promptly tell her sister to shut up.

"Who have we here?" The king questioned, and Caryssa could feel his eyes on her, and knew the time had come and braced herself inwardly, as she lifted her head to look upon her king.

She saw the shock in his face, and heard his withdrawn breath, and knew that he had made the connection between her and his late love. Caryssa just raised her chin slightly, refusing to back down now, and kept his gaze despite the many eyes that were now questioning why the king had had such a reaction to the Northern Lady and the thumping of her anxious heart in her chest.

"Lyanna?" He questioned, and Caryssa shook her head, looking to her father for help.

"Lyanna Stark was my aunt, your grace." She said, her voice a little breathy as she was nervous as to what his next actions would be.

"This is Caryssa, my eldest. She was but a babe the last time you saw her." Ned explained to his friend, and the Baratheon king nodded, his eyes still on Caryssa.

"By the Gods, Ned, she looks like your sister," Robert said, before clearing his throat and taking Caryssa's hand, lifting it to his lips and placing a gentle kiss on it. He quickly let her hand fall, and moved on down the line of Stark children. Caryssa refused to follow the king with her eyes, but instantly regretted it as she caught the cold green eyes of the queen. Cersei Lannister glared at the ghost who now haunted her in the flesh, but broke the gaze when she saw that the Stark girl would not. Caryssa was too stubborn to cower to a Lannister, no matter what her station. "You must be Robb."

The king shook her brother's hand, and drew Caryssa's attention again. She smiled at Robb as he returned the handshake with a rather regal nod of his head. Caryssa mused, not for the first time, that Robb would have made a good King of the North, like so many of their ancestors had before the North was claimed as dominion of the king of the rest of Westeros.

"My, you're a pretty one," The king said to Sansa, before moving on to talk to Arya, "Your name is?"

"Arya." Caryssa was happy that her sister stayed true to form and did not flinch when the king addressed her. The king moved on again, smiling slightly at Bran, before he spoke with amusement colouring his tone. He seemed to have a way with the younger children.

"Oh, show us your muscles," He said, and Bran pushed his cloak back and flexed his arm. The king chuckled at the little wolf and smiled. "Oh, you'll be a soldier."

Bran's replying beam of happiness made Caryssa's heart warm. It was no secret amongst their family that Bran wanted to be a knight or a member of the Kingsguard someday, and for the king to say that to him obviously meant the world to him. Caryssa mused silently that the king probably did not even know the kindness that he had just done the boy.

"That's Jaime Lannister, the Queen's twin brother." Caryssa heard Arya mutter to Sansa, and her eyes flickered back to the Lannister lion, who had removed his helm, shaking out his golden hair.

Caryssa could fully see him now, and was now certain that the whispers did him no justice. His hair was like spun gold, not unlike the Queen's and her children's, and he had a very handsome face. He had dismounted his horse, with the prince and the Hound, and his eyes scanned the area, before being drawn back to her. She unashamedly let her eyes roam his body, taking in his expensive armour and his physique, before she grew uninterested again, so snapped her eyes away from him and gave her attention to the Queen, who had finally approached them.

She gave her father a slight smile, placing her hand in his. Ned lifted the Queen's pale, cold hand to his lips and pressed a quick, gentle kiss to it.

"My queen." He said, and his wife curtseyed and repeated his words in greeting, earning another twitch of a smile from the Southern Queen, which was quickly wiped away by her husband's request.

"Take me to your crypt. I want to pay my respects."

"We've been riding for a month, my love. Surely the dead can wait." The Queen said, and Caryssa saw her point. The ride from Kings Landing to Winterfell was not exactly a short trip, nor would it have been rather comfortable, but the King paid that no mind.

"Ned." He called to Caryssa's father, before turning his back on his wife, disappearing from view. Caryssa watched her father's eyes flit to the Queen, giving her an apologetic look, before reluctantly following his king, and his friend, even if he did not want to.

Caryssa felt slightly awkward, and slightly disappointed by the man that she had just seen. It became clear very quickly that there was no love between the king and queen, and that he did not honour his wife as he should, because of the love he still bore to a woman long dead. Caryssa gave the Lion Queen a kind smile, but both of their attention was drawn to the youngest Stark girl as she asked, slightly louder than she should have, where the 'Imp' was.

The Queen strode away towards her brother and son, and Caryssa found the Lannister Lion's eyes on her again. She quirked her head, giving him a questioning gaze, but rolled her eyes when he smirked at her. He was clearly one of those men. The type of man who would toy with a person for his own amusements. Caryssa was a little apprehensive about his gaze, since she was not naïve enough to believe that he actually remained as celibate as his vows would have him, couple that with the fact that he was a Lannister who had enough wealth and power to believe they could have anything or anyone they wished and Caryssa found herself unhappy that she had caught his apparent interest.

The king's visit would not bode well for her it seemed, not well for her at all.

* * *

Jaime Lannister's interest was piqued by the Stark girl, that was for sure. He had heard rumours of her beauty and her singing voice many times from inn keepers and villagers on their journey north, but while she was breathtaking, a pale, dark beauty, she was only as beautiful as his sister was.

His sister. He and his sister's own forbidden relationship had come to an end a couple years after their last bastard had been born. Their love for each other was still there, but it was less potent than it had been in the beginning. They had realised that it was nothing more than a childish dream to continue, praying one day that they could be together. They were both sick of hiding, of the secrets, of all the terrible things they had had to do in order to protect their secrets, and so ended it, even though their love still remained as something more than a familial love.

Unless he found someone he could love without having to hide their relationship, a distraction from the love he had had to let go. Cersei found her distraction in her children, and in her hatred for her husband's whoring and refusal to let himself love his queen. Jaime thought that his duties as a kingsguard would be enough, but it wasn't.

Maybe the Stark girl could be distraction enough, or perhaps even grow into a tolerable companion. He knew that the King and Ned Stark would be discussing possible betrothals for the eldest Stark girl since there were none in the North that the old wolf deemed worthy of the Beauty of the North. Maybe he would throw his name into consideration. Seeing the King's reaction to the girl, he knew that Robert would want his Lyanna look-a-like to be in King's Landing where he could look upon her when he wished, so he would probably look to some of the knights or lords in King's Landing.

Jaime Lannister smirked, as he realised that maybe his visit to the frozen hell that was the north wouldn't be so terrible after all.

* * *

**A/N:**

Hey Guys, me again!

Tomorrow is my 18th birthday, so big moment for me. I'm going to be opening a bank account, and I'll get to vote and I can be on a jury and everything...lots of stuff to look forward to lol (nah, I'm kidding, I'm looking forward to buying my mom a G&T for the first time!). So if you guys want to review and make my day better since my birthday is on a Monday (the worst day of the week), I would be perfectly okay with that.

Anyway, so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. The King arrived, and more importantly, Jaime! Things are going to be a little slow at first, admittedly, but once we head off to King's Landing, things will move a lot quicker.

Thank you to those who have reviewed since the last chapter:

**LittleNK, Forever Fanfiction Lover22, Guest, Hand of the Alex, winter1990, cocoalover1956, Turquoise Waffles **(love the name btw)**!**

Thanks everybody who has favourited and followed this story, your support means all the world to me.

_SophStratt._


	4. A Tale of Two Betrothals

**Happiness is different from pleasure.**

**Happiness has something to do with struggling,**

**and enduring,**

**and accomplishing.**

**-George Sheehan**

* * *

**Chapter Four** - A Tale of Two Betrothals

**Winterfell**

Sometime in the middle of the day, Caryssa was getting frustrated by the amount of people that seemed to be packed within the castle. So she went to seek refuge in her usual place; the Godswood. She sat in front of the Heart Tree, her head bowed and her eyes closed. She loved the quiet of the forest, the only sounds to be heard were the rustling of the leaves and the cheerful chirping of birds. Caryssa understood why her father would come out here after an execution, to pray to the gods and clean his sword. It was peaceful enough that you could clear your head and sort through the noise within your thoughts.

Caryssa would always come out to the Godswood, to sit in front of the Heart Tree, when she was little. Often she'd find her father out here, and they'd sit together in the silence of the woods. She'd sit on the ground while he sat on a small stone seat, and she'd lean against his legs and he'd run his fingers through her hair while they both worked through their own thoughts. Sometimes they'd talk through problems that her father was having, she would offer her opinion and he'd take what she said into consideration. Her mother would joke that Caryssa was more her father's advisor than his daughter at times and that she was too wise for someone so young.

Perhaps she was too wise for her own good. Caryssa had always had a knack for knowing when something was going to change, when something was coming in the horizon. It wasn't anything that wasn't natural, she wasn't a seer or a witch, she just had good instincts. For example, the king's arrival in Winterfell spelt a change coming that she knew that she wasn't going to like. Her father would have no choice but to accept the king's offer of becoming the Hand of the King, and he would leave Winterfell. That was a change that Caryssa did not want. They were of the North, their blood ran differently to those in the South, they were different, and Ryssa knew that she couldn't protect her father if he were in the South. She wouldn't be able to race to his side quickly enough to protect him.

She shook her head of those thoughts. Her father was Lord Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, he had put a king on the throne and stopped rebellions, he could look after himself, even if her instincts were telling her that sometimes even that wouldn't be enough.

Caryssa was certain that everyone would be too busy or too occupied with the feast tonight to bother her here, even praying to the Gods to give a few moments peace, but her prayers went unanswered. She heard the snapping of twigs underneath feet, and turned her head to see that Jaime Lannister stood behind her, leaning casually against a tree, though no longer in his golden and white armour. Caryssa supposed that he would look a lot less intimidating like this, than he did in his armour, though Caryssa herself couldn't say that she felt intimidated by his presence. It was more a lust that she wouldn't give into. A Lannister was not someone she as a Stark wanted to involve herself with.

While a wolf is not afraid of a lion, both being predators, a wolf is wise not to venture too close to a lion, lest they rip each other apart.

"What do you pray for, Lady Stark, on a happy occasion such as this?" He questioned, as he took in her moment of surprise before she stamped it out, schooling a mask of indifference on her face.

"On a happy occasion such as this, I pray for the patience to deal with unwanted attention from Lannister lions, Ser Jaime. Clearly the gods have their attentions elsewhere today." Caryssa replied, smiling at him briefly, a sarcastic smile to match her witty words.

"The Ice Lady has a wit. What a lovely surprise," Caryssa scowled at Jaime, before turning around to face the Heart Tree again, choosing to ignore him. She stared down at her pale hands, wondering how they could still be smooth and soft in spite of the cold weathers she had grown in, and hoped he would simply leave as his presence troubled her. Was no where sacred anymore? She had been certain that none of the Southerners wouldn't come into the place of the Old Gods. "Have I offended you, my lady? I do hope that you accept my most humblest of apologies."

"I'm sorry to say that I don't take any notice of honeyed words from pretty men, Ser," Caryssa rose to her feet, brushing leaves away and flicking mud from the bottom of her skirts, and turned to face him. "And an apology is only humble when the person giving it truly means it, and is not using it to disguise his smugness and arrogance."

"Your words wound me, Lady Stark. What have I done to earn such cynicism?" Jaime questioned, strolling towards her and Caryssa fought the impulse to step backwards like a skittish animal. She saw the amusement in his green eyes, eyes she noticed were not as cold as his sister's were. He was enjoying this.

"Nothing, Ser, except being a Lannister. I have been warned that it is not wise for a lady to play with lions." Caryssa replied, now having to look up to keep looking into his eyes as he had moved directly in front of her. Her sense of propriety and decency, as well as her mistrust of men, was telling her that she should step away, leave before he could do anything to compromise her honor, but the arrogance in his eyes and her own stubbornness rooted her feet to the very ground where she stood.

"Or for a knight to play with wolves, but you don't strike me as the type of lady to stick to the rules, Lady Stark."

Caryssa took a confident step forward, eliminating a large amount of the space between them, surprising the lion with her boldness. She had surprised herself, allowing herself to be in a rather intimate position with a strange man who was not her husband or even her betrothed, but she continued anyway.

"It has been my experience, Ser Jaime, that rules are more like guidelines in a game," Caryssa said, smiling at him, and he blinked in surprise at the difference between the cold, blank expression she had had before and the beaming smile she had plastered on her face now. It made her even more pleasing to look at, if that were possible. "In any case, I don't recall inviting you to play."

With those final words, Caryssa left the golden knight in front of the Heart Tree, a satisfied smirk playing on her lips.

She had been toe-to-toe with the golden lion, and walked away without a scratch, that was a victory to be proud of.

* * *

After her brief encounter with Jaime Lannister, Caryssa headed to Sansa's room, knowing that her younger sister would want to choose the dress she would wear and how she was going to have her hair so that she wouldn't get embarrassed by her older sister's appearance. Caryssa insisted that she was perfectly capable of dressing herself, but when it came to feasts and princes and dresses, Sansa was not one to be argued with.

So that was where Caryssa was, lying across her sister's bed, watching her mother braid Sansa's beautiful red hair. Sansa was wearing one of her own creations, a pretty blue gown, and she was having her mother braid her hair in an elaborate Southern style in honour of their guests.

"Do you think Joffrey will like me? What if he thinks I'm ugly?" Sansa questioned, and Caryssa had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Her sister valued nothing more than approval from the prince and the rest of the royal family. It quite annoyed Caryssa, who believed that no one's opinion or approval mattered but that of your blood. Family, Duty, Honor was the motto of House Tully, her mother's family, and Caryssa took that seriously. Family first, duty second, and honor third.

"Then he is the stupidest prince that ever lived." Catelyn told her daughter, and Caryssa nodded.

"And a blind fool to boot." Caryssa added, sitting up and looking at her sister as the girl stared at her reflection in a hand held mirror.

"He's so handsome. When would we be married? Soon? Or do we have to wait?" Sansa questioned, and Caryssa frowned. Sansa was in love with the idea of love, of marrying a prince and bearing his children. She didn't seem to understand the reality of it. Joffrey could be a cruel, evil little brute underneath the nice, charming exterior, and Sansa wouldn't know it until it was too late.

"Hush now. Your father hasn't even said yes." Their mother reminded her, continuing to braid the silky red strands of her daughter's hair.

"Why would he say no? He'd be the second most powerful man in the kingdoms." Sansa replied, and Caryssa shook her head at the little wolf.

"Father would have to leave Winterfell, leave mother, and you along with him. Winter is coming, little wolf, and when winter comes, what do the wolves do?" Caryssa questioned, rising to her feet and moving into her sister's eye line. Sansa sighed, and stared at her sister stubbornly until she knew that she was waiting for an answer.

"The wolves stay in the den and protect each other, but, Caryssa, I'd be queen someday," Sansa said, before turning to look at her mother, with wide, pleading eyes. "Please make Father say yes! Please, please! It's the only thing I ever wanted."

"Let's drop this discussion for now. What dress do you plan to wear to the feast, Ryssa?" Catelyn questioned her eldest, and the young woman smiled in response at her mother's quick subject change, and decided to help her.

"I was thinking of the grey one that I wore for Robb's last namesday. It's pretty enough." Caryssa replied, shrugging her shoulders in indifference. She did not care for feasts. She was too much like her father. They both felt like a bear in a trap when it came to feasts, although, Caryssa did enjoy dancing, so she would often try and miss the first part of the feast to arrive just in time for the dancing and would then leave just as quickly. Though that would not be the case with this feast, she would be obligated to stay as long as possible as it was a feast for the king.

"I actually had a dress made especially for you for this special occasion. Sansa helped. It's in the Southern style, in honour of our guests." Her mother said, finishing Sansa's last braid, and leaving the room to go fetch the dress.

Caryssa gave Sansa a curious look, and Sansa feigned innocence, which made her elder sister laugh at her obviousness. Ryssa sat back down on the bed, and waited for her mother to return, trying to persuade her sister to give her more details about the dress that she knew next to nothing about. Sansa refused to cooperate however, saying that it was a surprise, and Ryssa just grew more frustrated and antsy.

She had never been a fan of surprises. Especially when they were often bad.

This one turned out to be one of those rare, wonderful surprises.

Her mother waltzed back into the room, a dress of light blue cotton - with a layer of silk above it so that it was beautiful, but warm in the Northern temperatures - draped across her arms. It didn't have sleeves, but Caryssa was used to the cold northern air, and she would be inside most of the night anyway. Caryssa took the dress from her mother's arms, and looked at it more closely. There was silver embroidery on the bodice, that just added to the beauty of the gown. It was most definitely the most beautiful dress that Caryssa owned.

"It's beautiful. Thank you both." Caryssa said, before she disappeared behind the screen in Sansa's room, and undressed.

She slipped the new gown on, smoothing the skirt out and loving the feel of silk underneath her hands. Most of her gowns were made from thick cottons or wool because of the temperatures, so silk was a rare thing for her to come across. She felt every bit the Beauty of the North in the gown she was now wearing. She moved out from behind the screen, and turned her back to her mother, who promptly moved forwards to tie the laces up in the back.

When Caryssa turned around, after settling the jewel of her necklace over the neck of her dress, both her mother and her sister cooed at her apparent beauty, and then forced her into the seat that Sansa quickly vacated, so that they could do her hair. They twisted and tugged her hair in their hands, plaiting two braids on either side of her hair, then connecting them into a larger braid that went down her back, whilst leaving a large section of her hair flowing down her back in dark waves.

When her mother and sister were done, Caryssa rose to her feet.

"It truly is a beautiful gown, Mother, but I had so many suitable gowns fit for a feast with the king, so what is the real reason behind this gift?" Caryssa questioned, arching an eyebrow and daring her mother to not speak the truth. Her mother sighed, and her sister rolled her eyes at the challenge in Caryssa's eyes.

"Your father has been thinking of potential suitors for you hand for a few weeks now. I believe the king will help your father make a decision tonight." Catelyn told her daughter in the softest voice she could muster, knowing that her daughter would not take kindly to being kept in the dark for all this time.

Sansa watched her sister closely, expecting a strong reaction. If there was one thing that Caryssa Stark hated, it was secrets or being kept out of affairs that she deemed she was privy to. She was the eldest, she deserved to be kept in the know, it was her right. Also this was directly connected to her sister, so she was certain to be angry that

"Who are the suitors they are considering?" Caryssa questioned, her eyes staring at the skirt of her dress, her voice quiet, but still as strong as it would normally be.

"They have narrowed it down to a few, among them Ser Loras Tyrell, and Ser Jaime Lannister."

"Jaime Lannister has taken vows. He cannot take a wife." Caryssa denied, and she glared at her mother for not coming to tell her when it appeared that her father would not. She was not a child no longer, and even when she was considered a child, she had been privy to a lot of sensitive information, because she was trustworthy and wise for her short years.

"The king is considering releasing him from his vows. He believes it would relieve the tensions that have been between the Houses of Stark and Lannister for years." Catelyn explained, realising immediately that her words were not the ones her daughter had wanted to hear, when the girl let out a frustrated growl, sounding very much like a wolf of her House.

"You should be happy, sister, both Ser Loras and Ser Jaime are very handsome. If you marry Ser Jaime, we could both have beautiful blonde babes." Sansa said, and Caryssa's head snapped towards her sister, fixing the romantic-minded girl with a dark look. Sansa couldn't understand why her sister was not happy with the way things were turning out. If Ser Jaime was released from his vows, and they married, Caryssa would be Lady Lannister of Casterly Rock someday.

Caryssa had suddenly had enough of pampering and preening, and made her escape while she could. She rushed to her rooms, purposefully trying to avoid being seen by anyone. The feast was in less than an hour, and if someone saw her now, she would have to go then and not halfway through as she wished.

So she snuck through the hallways, until she managed to sneak into her rooms, where she picked up the book on healing that Maester Luwin had loaned her, trying her best not to focus on the betrayal her father had committed against her. Caryssa and her father had a strict no secrets policy. She had never kept a secret from him in her life, but he had been keeping one from her for weeks. She was hurt, but she knew she would have to push her feelings aside when she entered the Great Hall. The good thing about feasts and banquets and court was that it was like a masquerade. You need only put on the right mask and then no one could see through it to who you truly were or how you were feeling.

A couple hours later, Caryssa donned her own mask and made the trip to the Great Hall, steeling herself before she entered. She plastered on a wide, pretty smile, and told herself that the next day she would ask her father when he intended to tell her, but for tonight, she would attempt to play the happy daughter who knew nothing of her impending betrothal. She would dance, she would drink, she would sing if the king asked for it, and she would forget her father's small betrayal and enjoy the rest of the feast.

* * *

**A/N:**

Hey Guys,

Sorry for the late update, but the storms over here in the UK knocked my internet out for the day, which was super annoying! So anyway, here's the new chapter, hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think. I know it's going a little slowly right now, but the first few chapters are basically just setting up the events of the rest of the story. Around Chapter Seven or Eight is when it's going to start getting a little more fast paced.

Oh, and thank you for all the birthday messages. I had a great day, it was awesome :)

Thank you to the following people for reviews:

**Turquoise Waffles, Soaring Hawk1, Forever Fanfiction Lover22, Hand of the Alex, Naruhina1519, StarStruck11, shipwreck321, LittleNK, jafcbutterfly, neko, jezz, **and **Autobot NightFury **(do you happen to like Transformers?)! Your support means the world to me guys, so I hope this is enough to keep you interested.

Spoilers for next chapter (nothing too big):

_Jaime and Tyrion talk about Caryssa and the she-wolf and the lion dance._

Thanks for reading,

SophStratt :)


	5. The Lady Dances

**"We are puppets,**

**dancing on the strings of those who came before us,**

**and one day, **

**our own children will take up our strings,**

**and dance in our steads."**

**-George R. R. Martin**

* * *

**Chapter Five - The Lady Dances**

**Winterfell**

Jaime Lannister had been looking for her all night, from where he leaned against the furthest wall from where the king was. The King had talked to him after their little rendezvous in the Godswood, telling him that he was being considered by Ned Stark and himself to marry the she-wolf.

Merely a couple of years past, he would have protested at the thought of marrying anyone that as not his sister, though he would have remained silent about that little fact. No one would have matched his sister, but now, the idea of marriage was a lot more agreeable. It wasn't like he was dishonouring his sister. They were no longer partaking in their taboo relationship, and Cersei often found her pleasures in others now and he found it didn't bother him as much as he used to think it would.

Marrying the Stark girl could be a lot of fun. The only part he objected to was no longer being part of the Kingsguard, and he had gotten that fool of a king to agree to letting him keep his post, whilst still marrying the young woman, should he be the final decision. His marriage would make his father happy as his son would be able to become the heir to Casterly Rock.

His eyes searched the room for her again, until he heard a chuckle from his side. His eyes moved reluctantly down, knowing immediately who the chuckle belonged to. His little brother (in every sense of the word) stood beside him, with an all too knowing look.

"You should make it less obvious, brother." Tyrion suggested, and Jaime rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, brother." Jaime said, looking away from his brother's smug face.

"The Stark girl is rumoured to be the most beautiful thing in the North, maybe even the whole of Westeros, with a singing voice that could lure even the most honourable of men to her bed," Tyrion said casually, as he sipped his goblet of wine, and watched his brother's face. "Though, I also heard she refuses any that try to court her. Apparently the last man tried to force himself on her, so she cut off his hand herself."

"I have not heard her sing, but she is a beauty, that I cannot deny. I don't know about her skill with a blade, but she does have a sharp tongue. It could rival yours, brother." Jaime replied, scanning the room for the woman they were speaking of once more.

Then the doors to the hall opened and she sauntered in, her head high and a wide smile on her lips. She was wearing a dress that looked like it belonged in the South, clearly something her mother had made for her in their honor. She did look a vision in the pale blue silk, and Jaime found himself transfixed until another chuckle made him turn his eyes away from her, but it didn't last long, and his eyes were drawn back to her, like every other male's in the room. She seemed happy to have finally joined them, but her smile was a clear lie. He'd seen the same smile on his sister before. It didn't quite reach her eyes, which made him question why. Perhaps she had heard of their potential betrothal and was less than happy about it. Or perhaps she disliked feasts as much as her father seemed to.

And then he caught her eyes, and knew that it wasn't about the feast.

* * *

Caryssa glided into the hall, and when she felt eyes on her, she turned to find them. Green eyes appraised her, and instead of that smug, warm feeling she had gotten that morning, she found herself feeling like a prize mare in an auction.

Despite the fact she still lusted over the golden lion, tonight she couldn't bear to look at him, knowing that her harmless flirting could suddenly become an invisible iron chain binding her to him for life. She looked away quickly, but her eyes caught his sister's instead. Cersei managed to quirk her lips at her, but Caryssa knew it was fake. The Queen did not like her, because Caryssa was the living form of the ghost that haunted her marriage. It was not a secret that the King's heart still belonged to Lyanna Stark, and that Cersei hated him for that. Caryssa did not flinch from her gaze, and it seemed that Cersei would not either, until Catelyn pulled her into a conversation.

Caryssa rushed to the table where her siblings were sat, wanting to distract herself from her thoughts. She pushed herself in between Robb and Theon and stole Robb's mug of ale, drinking it quickly without spilling a drop. Robb had made a noise of protest, until he saw his sister's hands shaking as she placed the mug back in front of him. Caryssa's hands never shook, not unless she was angry, and despite her furious temper, she did not get angry often. Which meant that something was terribly wrong.

"Get my sister a cup of wine!" Robb called to a serving wench, and a cup was immediately placed in front of her. Caryssa immediately drained it, clenching her hand around the cup when she finally noticed that her hand was shaking. "Are you going to tell me what is wrong?"

"Gods give me strength," Caryssa muttered, before she looked at her brother and Robb immediately saw the anger in her eyes. He had been right. "Father has been making plans with the King to marry me to…Jaime Lannister or Loras Tyrell. I'm not sure what is worse; my potential suitors or father keeping secrets from me."

"He is only doing what is right by you and by the family. You should not worry so much, sister. I doubt you'll be marrying the Kingslayer at any rate. Father hates him."

"Perhaps you are right, but that does not make me feel any better about it," Caryssa said, snatching Theon's mug of ale, and gulping it down before he could snatch it back. She then rose to her feet, and held her hand out to her brother. "Come dance with me, brother. It should help me forget the mess my life will soon become."

Robb rolled his eyes at her, but took her hand and led her to the only open space in the Great Hall. The music picked up as the entertainers saw Lady Caryssa take to the floor, and it brought a smile to her face. Robb pulled his sister into the circle of his arms, and then they danced, practically flying around the space to the beat of the music. Robb was just glad that his sister was now laughing, instead of angry as she was before.

When their dance was over, Caryssa was practically passed around, dancing with pretty much anyone who asked. She even danced with Theon, but that could have been because of the mixture of ale and wine she had consumed. Still, she did not expect, when she was dancing with her sister, Arya, to suddenly be pulled away into the strong arms of Ser Jaime Lannister. He smirked at her, as he moved her around the room, as though he expected her to pull away and go back to dancing with her sister, but she smiled at him, even if it was a terse, bitter smile, and kept on dancing, even though she tried to escape when a slower song was played but Jaime held onto her.

"You look beautiful, my lady." Ser Jaime said, and Caryssa rolled her eyes at him, being forced to hold in her words as he twirled her in a circle before pulling her back into his arms.

"Oh spare me your flattery, Ser." Caryssa snapped, and Jaime smirked at her.

"I take it you heard about the possibility of our marriage. I'll try to hold off the sting of rejection, until you tell me why you object so much to the idea."

"I object to the idea because wolves and lions do not belong together, and I do not belong in the South. The North is where I belong, especially now."

"'Winter is coming'. You Stark's are a paranoid bunch, aren't you?" Jaime questioned, and Caryssa laughed in his face, but he could tell that it was in a mocking way instead of amusement.

"Not to be rude, Ser, but you Southerners spend too much time giving your attentions to tournaments and feasts and courts. You don't feel and see the changes we do here in the North. The winds get harsher each year, the air colder, and our warm months grow shorter. Winter is coming, and the North will be prepared while the rest of you freeze and complain about your short-sightedness." Caryssa said, her voice low and dark but her smile was one of ease and smugness, until she saw that her words had not had the desired effect upon her dance partner.

In fact, he was looking at her in amusement, and slight surprise, and there was something strange in his eyes that Caryssa did not want to dwell on for fear of answers she was not ready to hear. His stupid grin, however, caused her to scowl. She wanted him to take her words to heart, wanted him to take offence, and maybe even threaten her. She wanted to put him off of her, so that he would rush off to King Robert and her father and take himself out of the running for her hand.

"I think I might enjoy being married to a woman with such a sharp tongue," Jaime smirked, and Caryssa found herself smiling in spite of herself, which the golden haired man caught as he was staring down at her as they danced. "Ah, the lady smiles! My mission is complete."

"What?" Caryssa questioned, and Jaime saw the confusion in her blue eyes, though her lips were still curved up into a smile.

"When you walked in, my lady, your smile wasn't real. Probably because you found out about our possibly upcoming vows. So I made it my mission to get the Ice Lady to smile, and, my lady, it was much easier than I thought it would be." Jaime teased her, and she narrowed her eyes at him, before she noticed a familiar figure behind across the room from them and a wider smile spread across her face. She pushed Jaime's arms away from her, leaving him in the middle of the other dancers, watching as she rushed to embrace another man.

Caryssa ignored her father, practically shoved Robb out of her way, and threw her arms around her uncle, squeezing him tightly as he chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"Uncle Benjen!" She cried, leaning back slightly to take in his face. He had more lines on his face than the last time she had seen him, which had been a couple of years ago.

"Caryssa, my girl, you grow more beautiful each time I see you." Her uncle replied, grinning from ear to ear, as his niece crushed herself to him again and planted a kiss to his cheek. She let him go after a moment more, and leaned into Robb's side, his arm immediately curling around her waist. Caryssa saw her father's eyes twinkle at the sight of them. He was always happy that his two eldest had formed such a close bond. He knew that it meant they would always look after each other.

"I think your eyes are not as keen as they used to be, uncle. I have not changed since last we met." Caryssa laughed, resting her head on her brother's shoulder.

"My eyes do not deceive me, my girl. Your aunt was the same. As she grew older, she only became more beautiful." Benjen replied, his eyes taking on a soft sort of sadness. It was the same look that had been in the king's eyes that morning when he had looked upon her for the first time during their introduction. That raw pain still evident even after all these years.

Ryssa noticed that her father looked like he was going to speak to her, so she untangled herself from her brother's embrace, and turned on her heel quickly. She did not think she could contain her temper at that present moment, should he speak to her about what her mother had told her. So she decided to head towards her two younger brothers, both of whom looked close to falling asleep.

However, instead of the quick escape she had wanted, she found herself staring at the chin of a golden lion. She tilted her head back to look into his eyes, but his eyes were on the man behind her. Her father had followed her, and now she was trapped between the two, with no hope of escape.

"Your pardon, ser." Ryssa said, hoping Jaime would move, but she was promptly ignored.

"I hear we might be neighbours soon. I hope it's true." Jaime said, and Caryssa sighed, and waited for the masculine display to be over.

"Yes, the king has honoured me with his offer." Ned replied, pulling his daughter back slightly by her hip. He was uncomfortable with how close she was to the Kingslayer. They were not married yet, and she was still his daughter.

"I also heard that I might be marrying your lovely daughter here." Jaime said, finally acknowledging her presence. She gave him a terse smile in response, and made to move around him, but he just stepped forward and made sure she was properly trapped. Caryssa sighed in frustration, and looked around the room to see if anyone was paying enough attention to come and save her, but the only person who was watching was Tyrion Lannister, and he seemed to be enjoying her situation far too much.

She shot the Imp a dark look, and he just laughed into his goblet of wine, shaking his head at her.

"That is also true. The King and I have been discussing suitors for her in the capital."

"I'm sure we'll have a tournament to celebrate your new title and my marriage to your daughter, if you accept. It would be good to have you on the field. The competition has become a bit stale." Ser Jaime replied, with an irritating, yet handsome, smirk on his face, that made both father and daughter grind their teeth in annoyance. Jaime noticed that, and his smirk became more pronounced. Caryssa truly was her father's daughter.

"I don't fight in tournaments." Ned stated, much to Jaime's amusement.

"No? Getting a little old for it?" He teased the older man, who just chuckled in return, letting the comment roll right off of him.

"I don't fight in tournaments because when I fight a man for real, I don't want him to know what I can do." Her father said, and Caryssa had to bite back her laughter at the very subtle threat in his words. It would not do well to threaten a Lannister, but her father knew that.

"Well said." The Lannister lion grinned at him, and Caryssa decided that she had finally had enough.

"Now that you are both done with wasting precious moments of my life, I should put Bran and Rickon to bed before they fall asleep in their seats," Caryssa said, raising her voice slightly to really get their attention. Jaime just smirked at her, as he had in almost all of their encounters, and she glared up at him as he made it clear that he had no intentions of moving out of her way. "Move, Ser Jaime, or you can choose which appendage you'd most like to lose."

"She is feisty, isn't she? Could be entertaining should we marry." Jaime said, before stepping out of her way and with a sweeping gesture, allowed her to finally leave.

She just rolled her eyes at him, before sauntering away, well aware that her father and Jaime were still watching her. Caryssa moved quickly towards her little brothers, holding back her laughter as Rickon's head drooped before he jerked upright again. She curled her arm around her younger brother's neck, and he looked up at her with sleepy, child-like eyes.

"Come on, pup, it's time for bed," She said, plucking him up from his seat, settling him on her hip. Rickon immediately buried his face into her hair, nuzzling her neck before falling asleep almost instantly. She cooed quietly to him, before holding out her hand to Bran. "You too, little wolf. You're coming as well."

Bran didn't even bother to protest, knowing that he was tired and that his sister knew it as well. He just took her hand, and let her lead him out of the hall, having to pause every so often as his sister was forced to say goodnight to someone.

Eventually, Caryssa made it outside with the two boys, and unsurprisingly, Robb and Arya at their heels. Arya had flung food at Sansa while the prince had been watching, so Robb was forced to escort her to her room by their mother.

"Sansa is such a baby!" Arya grumbled, as Robb and Caryssa rolled their eyes at her. Caryssa shifted Rickon on her hip, ignoring Robb when he offered to take him. The little wolf pup was already asleep, and Caryssa didn't want to risk jostling him and waking him up.

"Says the baby who still flings food at her sister," Caryssa said, giving her little sister a disapproving glance. "Young ladies do not throw food."

"You always tell me that I'm fine the way I am, so why should I have to act like a lady?" Arya questioned, and Robb snorted at her, making Caryssa glare at him for his lack of support. Arya was so wilful and stubborn, like her, which made it more difficult to be stern with her and not sound like a hypocrite.

"Because you were in the presence of royalty. We must keep up pretences, Arya. Even if we let you run around like a wildling, does not mean that we can allow you to do that in front of the king and queen," Caryssa informed her, and Arya huffed a little, though she knew her sister was right. "You shouldn't have humiliated Sansa like that in front of the prince. They are to be betrothed, Arya, and she is trying to make a good impression."

"She always acts so prim and proper, like she didn't use to join in on our pranks on Theon." Arya grumbled, as they came to a halt outside her room. Bran was leaning heavily against Caryssa's side now, practically sleeping on his feet, and Rickon was almost drooling on her shoulder.

"Every person is different, Arya. Sansa wants to be a lady, you want to be a knight and Caryssa wants to be a blend of both. No woman is the same." Robb said, earning himself a surprised smile from the other half of himself. Caryssa arched a brow at him, before nudging Arya with her foot.

"You understand what your oh so wise older brother said?" Caryssa questioned, and upon receiving a nod from her sister, she nudged her again. "Good. Now get to bed. I'll be checking you're asleep when I return from the feast."

Arya rolled her eyes, and mumbled a goodnight to her siblings, before turning and trudging into her room. Caryssa turned to move, but almost slipped over due to losing balance since Bran had indeed fallen asleep against her, resting his full weight on her when she was not prepared to take it. Robb was the only thing that stopped her from falling over, pulling her fully upright again.

He just snickered slightly, before heaving Bran into his arms, and carrying down the halls to the little wolf's room. Caryssa watched her brothers leave, knowing that she would meet Robb back in the feasting hall. As much as she wanted to just return to her room and sleep off the dancing she had done, she knew that, as the eldest, she had a duty to stay until at least her mother and father retired.

Knowing that she'd rather get the rest of the feast over and done with, Caryssa turned on her heel and carried a slightly stirring Rickon to his bedchambers. He was half asleep when she managed to get him into bed, with Shaggydog (Caryssa almost wished she hadn't let him name the direwolf himself) curling up beside him immediately, but he was awake enough to complain about being too hot under his furs with all his clothes still on.

Caryssa rolled her eyes at him, as he simply lifted his arms above his head and waited for her to remove his tunic for him. She tugged gently at the laces, making it loose enough for her to pull it up over his head, leaving him in a shirt and his breeches. She tucked him in tightly underneath the furs, and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead before turning to leave.

"Ryssa, sing me a lullaby please?" Rickon whined, and Caryssa sat by his side again, smiling gently down at him, running her fingers through his soft dark hair.

"Which one would you like, pup?" She questioned, her heart warming as her little brother snuggled towards her, and yawned. Despite refusing many suitors, Caryssa had yearned for children of her own since she had first flowered at thirteen. She loved her younger siblings so dearly, saw how deeply her parents loved their children, and she knew that someday she wanted that. She just didn't want it to be all she did with her life. She didn't want to be wife and mother, and nothing else like so many other women. She wanted more, she just did not know what.

"The sleep song."

"Naturally. Okay," Caryssa said, clearing her throat, before she began to sing.

_"Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby,_  
_Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay,_  
_And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow,_  
_Bless you with love for the road that you go,_

_May you sail fair to the far fields of fortune,_  
_With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet,_  
_And may you need never to banish misfortune,_  
_May you find kindness in all that you meet,_

_May there always be angels to watch over you,_  
_To guide you each step of the way, _  
_To guard you and keep you safe from all harm,_  
_Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay,_

_May you bring love and may you bring happiness, _  
_Be loved in return to the end of your days,_  
_Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you,_  
_I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay,_

_May there always be angels to watch over you,_  
_To guide you each step of the way,_  
_To guard you and keep you safe from all harm,_  
_Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay,_

_Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay."_

Caryssa ended her song and kissed her now sleeping brother on the brow, before gently rising to avoid waking him. Her quiet, calculated movements were almost in vain when she turned, and almost screamed at the sight of Jaime Lannister leaning against the open doorway of little Rickon's room. Caryssa managed to slap a hand over her mouth, and bit back the scream, before glaring at him, as he laughed silently.

The she-wolf pushed him out of her way, closing the door to Rickon's room behind her, before trying to storm past him. However, the lion had other ideas and grabbed her arm to force her to look at him.

"I did not mean to frighten you, my lady. I'm sorry." Jaime said, and Caryssa regarded him for a moment, before smirking at him.

"Liar. Why else would you be skulking in the doorway of my brother's bedroom?" She questioned, ignoring how the knight's hand had dropped to her own, and was gripping that instead of her forearm. Despite her irritation from him, and her anger towards their proposed marriage, she couldn't help but think of how nice his warm hand felt around hers.

"Skulking, milady? I merely heard the faint sounds of a beautiful melody over the noise in the feast hall, and decided to investigate. It is true what they say…you truly are the Northern Nightingale." Caryssa felt something strange in her stomach, a slight fluttering, but when she realised that it was due to the Lannister's words, she squashed the feeling quickly. She would not turn into Sansa, and melt over a man because of honeyed words and good looks.

"Thank you, Ser Jaime," She said, with a slight smile, before she gestured in the general direction of the feasting hall. "Would you accompany me back to the feast?"

"It would be my pleasure, milady." Jaime said, bringing her small, dainty hand to his lips. Caryssa felt herself blush involuntarily and scowled inwardly at herself, before allowing a small smile to grace her face as a response to his action.

Jaime curled her arm around his, a smirk on his lips that let her know that he had seen the heat in her cheeks, before escorting her back to the feast, where she instantly untangled herself from him and left his side.

Caryssa cursed herself and Jaime Lannister for the rest of the evening, because even when she was having a stiff, borderline polite conversation with the Queen and her mother, her Tully blue eyes would always find his Lannister green orbs wherever they were in the room.  
She cursed herself because she was supposed to be rebelling any sort of connection to him now that she could be bound to him for life, but instead she was like a child staring in awe at a golden knight. She had become no better than her little sister, staring across the table at her betrothed with rose tinted vision.

The Northern woman caught eyes with him once more, after she had retreated from her subtle war of words with Queen Cersei, when she was in conversation with Robb and Theon about the kraken's 'luck' with women. He was watching her while he sat with his brother, talking quietly to each other, and occasionally Tyrion's gaze would flicker to her, so she knew they were talking about her. Caryssa couldn't comprehend as to why the lion seemed so intrigued by her. She was no more or no less special than any other woman in the room. In her opinion, there were far more beautiful women than her, like the Queen or her little Sansa, so she couldn't fathom why he only stared at her.

Maybe it was her words in the Godswood, maybe it was her sharp tongue, or maybe it was because she had shown on the slightest of interest in him compared to the adoration she was sure other women lavished upon him. Whatever it was, she was only slightly sorry for it now. A small part of Caryssa felt slightly smug his attention was only on her, and no other. It made her feel a little bit more powerful that she had that kind of hold over a man.

However, his attentions also irritated her as she found she couldn't concentrate on her brother and his idiot friend while trying to understand why Ser Jaime stared, so she removed herself from the conversation and the feasting hall.

Caryssa wandered outside, until she heard the hard thumps of a blade against a straw dummy. She knew of only one person who would be outside in the cold practising his swordsmanship instead of inside drinking and eating. She rubbed her arms, trying to fend off the chill in the air, as she headed towards the source of the noise, where she found her other brother, who had been missing all night, slashing at the straw filled burlap sack that worked as a test dummy.

"Who are you picturing that as?" Caryssa questioned, as Jon stabbed the dummy again. He spun around, and looked at her, as she shook from the cold.

"As beautiful as you look, you also look like you'll turn into an icicle if you stay out here any longer." Jon said, instead of answering her question. He grabbed his cloak that he had discarded for his training, and draped it around her shoulders as she moved closer to him. She muttered her thanks, grabbing his hand to keep him next to her, the other hand grasping the cloak close to herself.

"I picture Theon. He's the only person I hate enough to make me want to run him through with my sword." Caryssa joked, well half-joked, and Jon chuckled slightly.

"I've never understood why you don't like him. Robb loves him like another brother."

"I don't trust him. Never have and never will." Caryssa shrugged, though it was barely noticeable because she was still shivering. Jon shook his head at her, before tugging her hand, beginning to lead her back to the hall.

"You should go back inside. It's too cold for you out here in that dress." Jon said, and Caryssa shook her head and locked her legs in place so he couldn't move her without swinging her up into his arms and carrying her back inside.

"Only if you come in with me. I've missed you this evening, and you are the only one of my siblings I haven't danced with, so you have to rectify that, brother dearest!" Caryssa said, her voice soft, but with an edge. One that said that she was not going to be argued with and that he should just do as she asked with no complaints.

"Your mother won't allow it. She thinks it would insult the royal family to seat a bastard in their midst." Jon said, and Caryssa could hear the shame in his voice, and a sense of dislike and disappointment welled up inside her towards her mother. She couldn't believe that she constantly made a boy feel so terrible about his own existence because of the mistakes of her husband.

"You would not be seated, you would be dancing," Caryssa teased him, and Jon rolled his eyes at her, shaking his head but still not caving to her wishes, so she tried another tactic. "Everybody is too drunk to care, and if Mother gets angry, I will deal with it. Please, Jon, don't make me beg. It's not becoming of a lady."

His sister smirked at him, and Jon rolled his eyes at her and sighed, letting her lead him inside, smiling at her sweet giggles. She had obviously consumed some wine. It was the only real time she got giggly. His sister laughed a lot, well only around her family, and chuckled, and snickered, but never giggled unless she drunk wine.

As soon as they were inside the hall, the musicians picked the music up, and Jon wondered how they always knew that his sister was going to dance. Caryssa smiled at him, and Jon sighed heavily again, and pulled her into his arms, trying to remember the dance lessons she had given him and Robb.

Jon twirled his sister around the small dance floor, and tried to ignore the burning gaze of Lady Stark. Every time he glanced over at the royal table to see if Lady Stark was giving him the disapproving, hateful stare, Caryssa would force him to keep his eyes on her by stamping on his toes, or punching him in the arm. The people watching would laugh, and he would shake his head at her 'subtle' ways, and gave her his attention again.

After a couple dances, Caryssa finally let him go, but dragged him to the table where Robb and Theon sat, and got him an ale to drink. She forced him into her vacated seat, planted a kiss on his forehead and then sat on his left, sipping from a goblet of wine, her free hand grasping his arm tightly in reassurance.

Jon spent the rest of the night enjoying himself, drinking and laughing with his brother and sister, which brought happiness to his siblings and father. Catelyn Stark, however, was not best pleased that her daughter had defied her wishes and had brought the boy in to the feast, though even if she scolded Caryssa, the girl wouldn't regret it.

Caryssa smiled a genuine smile the rest of the night, something that Jaime noticed. She smiled with her brothers on either side of her, as she ended up, and looked genuinely happy, something that lit up her whole face in a way he had never seen Cersei's. Jaime knew that the two women were different in their looks just from the first glance at the Stark girl, but it was only then that he had realised that the two women he had or used to have a romantic interest in were two vastly different in personality too.

Cersei was a fierce beauty, golden and bright like the sun. Caryssa's beauty was no less magnificent, but it was darker and more gentle like the moon. Yet, he mused, they seemed to adopt the opposite of themselves. Cersei was often grim, unsmiling, cold and what he had observed of Caryssa is that she was light, cheerful and warm (among her family at least). He shook his head, cursing the cold Northern air for making him think like some flowery bard or knight.

They were both complicated women, regardless, and Caryssa frustrated him more than anything. She wasn't like Cersei at all, the only woman he had ever known intimately. Cersei was all passion, hard and rough and very clear in her intentions. Caryssa was a mystery wrapped in an enigma covered in a puzzle. One moment she was staring at him, the next she was pretending he didn't exist. It was infuriating.

Caryssa felt his eyes on her again, and this time she turned to acknowledge him, raising her goblet slightly towards him with a smile, before turning back to her brothers and her conversation. Her actions only left the lion even more confused by her, and she smirked in satisfaction.

Confusing Jaime Lannister was going to be her life's mission, should her father agree to the king's proposal of marriage between them, and she was going to enjoy it immensely.

* * *

**A/N:**

Hey Guys!

Here is chapter five, and the feast scene! I hope you guys like it. So please read and review to let me know what you thought, I promise I won't get offended (or let you know if I got offended :P).

Oh, and I just finished reading this amazing Jaime/Sansa fic (it's an AU like this one) and you guys should totally check it out. It's called The Eyes See True by LadyLannister. It's actually very well written and I just spent the last couple of days reading and found myself disappointed when I reached the last update.

Thank to all the people who have favourited and followed this story, support means the world and encourages me to continue writing, so thank you all.

Thank you to the following readers who reviewed the last chapter:

**shipwreck321, LittleNK, Soaring Hawk1, cocoalover1956, Hand of the Alex, Autobot Nightfury (**I have no clue where I got it from either, but seriously dude, love the name**), StarkStruck11, jezz** and **winter1990.**

Thank you guys so much,

_**SophStratt.**_


	6. Broken Wolves

**Because I could not stop for Death,**

**He kindly stopped for me,**

**The carriage held but just ourselves,**

**And immortality**

**-Emily Dickinson**

* * *

**Chapter Six - Broken Wolves**

**Winterfell**

Caryssa awoke with the rising of the sun, her eyes bleary with sleep and a dull ache in her head from the drink she had consumed the previous night. Remembering that she had to speak to her father about her potential betrothals, she hurriedly dressed, pulling on a dark blue gown made of wool and her boots. Before leaving her room, she made sure to braid her hair so that it was out of her face, and quickly left her room.

As it was still quite early, she guessed her parents would still be in their room, so headed there first, smiling politely at all the staff she passed and muttered a few good mornings. After a long process of polite greetings and short conversations, she arrived at her parents' room, and a servant announced her presence. She waited to be let in, her hands clasped together and a passive look on her face.

"Let her in," Her father's voice said, and the servant opened the door for her, and she gave him a small smile in return, which quickly vanished as soon as the door was closed behind her. The room seemed darker, smaller now than it had been when she was a small child, creeping in to her parent's bed after a nightmare had plagued her sleep. "Say what you've come to say, Caryssa. Don't just stand there and leave me in suspense."

"Why did you not come to me? If you had said that it was time to properly discuss betrothals, you know that I would have been willing to listen, but instead you chose to discuss it with the king behind my back, treating me like other men would treat their daughters."

"Your father did not mean to upset you, Caryssa. He is just doing what he thinks is right," Her mother said, before her father could reply to her words. "Besides, you seemed to get along with him enough last night at the feast."

"I was getting along with Theon Greyjoy at the feast last night, but that does not mean I want to marry him!" Caryssa snapped, before she took a deep breath to calm herself down, before muttering an apology. "Why him? Why Jaime Lannister?"

"If we go to King's Landing, I will not be able to be with you all the time with my duties as the King's Hand, but under the protection of the king, myself and Ser Jaime, no harm shall befall you." Her father explained, and Caryssa frowned at his words, disagreement clear on her face.

"I am not a child anymore. I do not need a man hovering around me for protection anymore."

"It would help me sleep better, Caryssa, knowing that you had the protection of not just our house, but that of House Baratheon and House Lannister. I need you to understand that the world is far more dangerous than you know. I have tried to protect you as much as possible from the world…but King's Landing is politics and murder and mysteries and lies and secrets all wrapped into one. I am only trying to do right by you." Caryssa felt her resolve waning at her father's words. Maybe she had been too harsh with her father. She was just angry at the initial betrayal and the Jamie Lannister of it all. She could learn to love or tolerate the Lannister lion, if only for her father's peace of mind, but would it be enough? She didn't know.

There was still time for her father to change his mind, and while she could not pin all her hopes upon him doing so, she could still pray to the Gods for things to work out in her favour. If there was any way for her to stay in Winterfell with Robb, Bran, Rick and her mother, than she would do it.

If not, she would resign herself to trying to make her marriage to Ser Jaime at least a tolerable one if she could not spark any form of romantic feelings between them.

She would find someway to make her life worth living, while appeasing her father and taking one more burden from his shoulders.

She would make it work somehow.

* * *

A few days after the feast and her conversation with her father, Caryssa was dressed in one of her riding dresses, her long, dark tresses in a large braid over her shoulder, her cloak draped over her shoulders, her boots laced up to her knees, and was striding purposefully towards her saddled horse. She was joining the men on a hunt. Caryssa loved hunting, and that's why she had left Rhaenyra with Arya and Nymeria, and had quickly gotten ready when her father had informed her that the king had asked her to accompany them, knowing that she was a skilled huntress.

The Southern men watched her as she checked over her newly sharpened arrows in her quiver, counting them to make sure she had a good amount, and she glared down at her weapon, trying to ignore their ignorant stares. Women were not supposed to join the men on hunting trips, but Caryssa had always insisted on joining her brothers when they first started hunting with her father. She had already been learning archery by then, and wanted to join the men.

"A hunt is not the place for a woman, my lady." One of the southern guards said to her, just as Robb and her Uncle Benjen approached her. Her father had already mounted his steed, along with King Robert, Ser Jaime and a mix of the Baratheon, Stark and Lannister house guards.

The man that had spoken to her was tossing an apple up into the air, and Caryssa smirked at him, before quickly stringing an arrow to her bow and letting it fly in his direction. The Lannister guard cried out, thinking that she had tried to kill him, only to see that his apple was pinned against the stable wall by her arrow.

"Neat trick, my lady, but hunting is an often bloody sport. Women should not see such a sight." Ser Jaime said as he pushed his horse into a walk towards her.

She rolled her eyes at him, a dark glint in them as she looked upon her betrothed. Her father had made the announcement to their family at dinner two nights past, and Caryssa had frowned at her dinner, before leaving with Robb on her heels. She hadn't cried, nor did she speak any words, but her brother just held her in his arms. She knew that it was going to happen, but she had hoped that her father would change his mind, so she wouldn't have to leave the North and her brothers.

"While it is true that most women are unaccustomed to the sight of death, blood is something we see plenty of, Ser. Besides, I am not an ordinary woman. Here in the North, we are made of stronger stuff than your southern women," Caryssa smirked as she stowed her bow into her quiver, checked that her riding dagger was tucked away in her saddle bag. She mounted Snow, and shared an irritated glance with her father who was beside the king, as the men began to grumble at her presence. "Does anyone else have any objections with my going on this hunting trip, because I'd be happy to leave you all behind and go by myself."

"The Lady Caryssa will be joining us, have you all got that?" The King's voice boomed, and the men silenced themselves for fear of angering their king. Caryssa smiled, and realised that it was, in this instance, a rather handy thing that she looked so much like her aunt. The King would be more willing to come to her aid against the stubbornness of his men. "Kingslayer! You're guarding Lady Caryssa today."

"My pleasure, Your Grace." Jaime replied, smirking at the woman with a strange satisfaction.

Caryssa sighed, but didn't fight the king's decision the way she would have if it was her father. She didn't need protection from any man, she had learned to protect herself. Yet what the king wanted, he got. The Lannister lion would be following her around like a hawk now, and she would have to deal with his attentions.

"Come on, boys, girl, let's go kill some boar!" The king said, as he turned his horse towards the gates, but he turned his head back towards them, and gestured towards Caryssa with his hand. "Lady Caryssa, come, ride next to me."

Caryssa plastered on a smile, but her eyes darted to her brother. She always rode next to Robb unless she was upset, and Robb was giving her the same sad look. It was these moments where Ned Stark realised just how lost his two eldest children would be without each other. They were both young adults, yet in some aspects they still seemed like children. They needed each other, and Ned knew he was going to hate himself for splitting them up.

He had accepted the King's offer of the title of Hand of the King, and he was taking his three girls with him to King's Landing. Caryssa would be marrying Jaime Lannister, Sansa would be marrying Prince Joffrey, and Arya would be learning the ways of the court in the hopes it would turn her into a lady. It meant separating the wolves before winter, but they would have to deal with that as it came.

Caryssa turned her eyes away from her brother, and took her place at the king's side, ignoring the look the prince gave her, one that was a mixture of pleased and lust. The boy prince was an idiot. Her sister was far more beautiful than she, and yet here he was staring at her with a familiar hunger in his eyes that she had gotten used to seeing in men's eyes. Caryssa knew she was beautiful, but she never understood why that was all men could see. There was far more to her than just her beauty.

"So, your father tells me that before the Kingslayer, you had refused to marry any other suitor. Why was that, girl?" King Robert questioned, and Caryssa smiled, though kept her eyes focused forwards.

"The truth, Your Grace, or the white lie I tell to keep people happy?" Caryssa asked, and King Robert chuckled at her.

"The truth, girl. It's a crime to lie to your king."

"Very well, my king," Caryssa said, pausing as she decided how to word her thoughts. "Before now, I saw marriage as a cage, confining me to a life of misery. I would have to leave my home, everything I have ever known and loved, for the sake of marrying a stranger who couldn't love me as he wouldn't know me and would take away what little freedom my father gives me. I would have to give up my own hobbies and pursuits for running a household and bearing children. What part of that sounds even remotely appealing to a young lady, Your Grace?"

"It's the way the world works, my lady. Don't you want to be looked after? Don't you want children?" Prince Joffrey questioned, and Caryssa nodded a couple of times, before explaining.

"I want children, my prince, like any woman, but when I was younger, I had my siblings to help raise. In my eyes, I already had my children and I always used the excuse that my family needed me and that's why I didn't want to leave, but I suppose that it was more that I needed them. I didn't want to be the lone wolf out on her own when the winter came," Caryssa mused, her smile turning a little wistful, before she shook her head to block out any of her more morose thoughts and feelings. She plastered on a new grin, and looked at the prince. "Now what of you, my prince, what was it like to grow up in the Red Keep?"

Joffrey and the King kept her entertained with stories of King's Landing, and of childhood stories and of battles and wars. The king made her laugh, and Joffrey was only mildly annoying that morning. He seemed to be on his best behaviour, or as close to good behaviour as the prince got, which made it easier for her to listen to his lies (the tales of his victories over the other younger men in court were truly lies because Caryssa had seen him spar with Robb and he was not very skilled with a sword).

When they were deeper into the Wolfswood, Caryssa excused herself and let her horse drop backwards a little bit, until she turned Snow to the left and cantered into the forest away from them. She knew the forest like the back of her hand, knew where the boars were and where the largest stags grazed, and she knew how to herd them to wherever the other hunters were. She had always done this on hunting trips with her father, brothers, Jory and Theon, ridden on alone and herded their prey, but this time she found that she had her own follower. She pulled the reigns back, getting Snow to slowly come to a stop.

"Is there any reason that you broke out of line, Lady Caryssa?"

She turned her head back at the sound of the lion that had been commissioned to 'protect' her, and blinked her eyes at him innocently, something he saw right through.

"Maybe I was seeing who would chase after me. What a pleasant surprise," Caryssa teased, before continuing before he could open his mouth to speak. "I know a watering hole where the animals go to drink, which is where they are at this time of day, which also happens to be a little north of where the hunting caravan was going, so I was going to…herd the animals in the right direction."

"And you thought you'd accomplish that alone?" Jaime questioned, and Caryssa arched a brow at him as his horse came to a stop right beside hers.

"I'm not incapable," Caryssa stated, before narrowing her eyes at the disbelief on his face. "I hope that you don't plan to try to control me, Ser Jaime. I'm only marrying you because I believe it will help my house and because you are the most…attractive offer I've received since my father started to take marriage proposals seriously."

"So you only agreed because of my dashing good looks. I suppose they had to come in handy someday," Jaime smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes, exasperated by his inability to take any of their conversations seriously. "And I don't plan on controlling you, Lady Stark. It's rather attractive…that fire in you, that defiance. They do not make women like you, my lady."

Caryssa grinned at him, before it turned into a smirk.

"If they did, men like you would be left very frustrated," Caryssa teased him, before turning her mind back to the hunt. "Now, Jaime Lannister, how fast is your horse?"

Without waiting for his answer, Caryssa clicked her tongue and Snow galloped off into the trees, his rider expertly manoeuvring them through the trees. She heard the pounding of hooves behind her, indicating that Jaime was following her, obeying the king's orders. Caryssa quickly found the watering hole the animals frequented, and pulled out her bow and a single arrow.

The deer were already standing to attention, having heard her approach, but as she had slowed Snow down to a trot, they had yet to bolt. She strung her arrow to her bowstring, and pulled it taut. She enjoyed archery simply because when she was like this, bowstring taut and her arrow almost seeming to come to life underneath her fingers, it felt like she was in her own world, and there was nothing but her, her weapon, and her prey.

It was delightful to feel as though she had a place where she could be alone. She loved her family dearly, but she never had any time alone. If she wasn't with her mother learning how to run a household, she was with her father discussing how to run the North and various other important things, or with Robb, Jon, Theon, Rodrick, and Jory training, or with Sansa and Arya in a needlework class, or with Bran in his lessons, or looking after Rickon. She never had a moments peace, but she usually didn't mind. Yet, since the announcement of her impending marriage, she had begun to crave her time alone. Though it probably didn't count as alone time now as her betrothed was just a few paces back, watching her intently.

She took her shot, missing the animals to make them dart into the right direction, and then began her pursuit, the Kingslayer right behind her. Every so often, Caryssa would have to make Snow go off course so she could herd the animals in the right direction again, but eventually she heard the cheers of the men as the first stag had been taken down. Caryssa and Snow, with Jaime and his own horse following, bounded into a small clearing where the king, the prince, her father, her brother, her uncle, Lord Tyrion and the household men of both houses were circled around a couple of fallen stags.

Caryssa spotted a larger stag that had yet to flee, but was heading towards the king, who had dismounted his horse to inspect his kill. She quickly strung an arrow to her bow and let it fly, watching as it buried itself into the stag's eye killing it instantly.

It dropped to the ground right at the king's feet, and King Robert stared at the fallen animal before raising his eyes to the young woman still perched atop her snow white horse, and he immediately thought of his Lyanna. She had always wanted to join him and her brothers on their hunting trips, but they had never allowed her, which was one of the reasons that the king had been so insistent on the lady's attendance.

Caryssa smiled at her kill, before putting her arrow away. Her brother was laughing at the victory in her eyes, along with Jory, her uncle and Theon, the king was chuckling and her father was beaming with pride, and Caryssa did not know how that moment could have gotten better.

It was a shame that she never found out.

A rider burst through the tree line, as Caryssa had moments before, with a frantic look on his face.

"Lord Stark! My lord! I bring a message from Maester Luwin, my lord! It's Lord Bran. He fell from a tower-" The messenger started, but the sound of a galloping horse cut off his speech.

The men of the North and South watched as the only woman of their hunting party, turned her horse around and galloped away in the direction of Winterfell, pushing her snowy white horse to go as fast as he could. The other Stark's followed closely behind, with the king and Jaime Lannister close on their tails. They chased after the woman, who had clearly forgotten the existence of reason and logic, and whose only thought was of her brother who may or may not be dead.

Caryssa ignored the riders behind her, having a head start and no desire to slow down for them, and found herself riding through the gates of Winterfell in moments. She didn't stop until she reached the courtyard of the castle, and quickly dismounted her horse, leaving the poor creature for a waiting stable hand to take back to the stables.

She ran through the castle to the healing rooms, where the rest of her family was waiting outside, clearly not allowed into the room.

"What has happened?" Caryssa questioned, her voice sounding breathless, but still managed to maintain a hint of authority. She wanted answers and she was going to get them.

Her mother looked up at her with tears in her eyes, a clear look of despair and desperation in the usually calm blue that sent a stab of fear into the heart of her daughter. Only once before had she seen that look in her mother's eyes. The day that her father brought home his son from the war. The day her mother's heart had been broken.

"He's not dead, is he? He can't be dead. Someone say something!" Caryssa yelled, startling her younger siblings at the harshness of her voice. Sansa's slim resolve crumbled at the fear in her elder sister's voice, something that she had never heard before in her thirteen years of life, and she burst into tears again.

Caryssa's anger quickly ebbed away, and she pulled her sister into her arms, kissing her auburn hair, whispering soft comforting words she had no idea whether they were true or not. It was then that the men arrived, the king demanding to be kept up to date on Bran's health status, before muttering apologies to his friend and disappearing, Robb pulling a sobbing Rickon into his arms and Ned comforting his wife and youngest daughter. Caryssa pulled Jon into her and Sansa's embrace, and he squeezed them to him tightly, giving as much comfort as he needed himself.

That's how Jaime Lannister found the Stark family a few moments later, holding desperately onto each other, as they all silently prayed to the gods to spare their son or brother. Caryssa looked over Sansa's head and spied him, standing almost awkwardly as he watched her family. His green eyes had an odd hint of sympathy in them, and hers unshed tears that her family would never see.

In that moment, Jaime saw a crack in the ice around the North woman's heart, a vulnerability that he had not yet seen in her, and then he knew that they were more similar than he had originally believed.

Her family was her life, just as his family was his.

* * *

**A/N:**

Hello good people!

I am so incredibly sorry for the seventy years (or so it feels like) in between uploads! My computer crashed and wiped my memory drive, including this story, which means that I'm currently re-writing everything, and usually before I upload a new chapter, I make sure I'm a few chapters ahead, so I don't feel too much pressure.

Anyway, so we had a daddy-daughter confrontation, a little bit more Caryssa/Jaime, and Bran's fall! I hope you guys liked it! I also hope that there was enough fluff and light in this chapter to make up for the next one which will not be very happy (it's going to be concentrating on Caryssa's coping mechanisms when faced with grief). So that's a sneak peak for the next chapter there.

Okay so a big thank you to everybody who has favourited and followed since the last chapter, and a big shout out to the reviewers too:

**MarinasDiamond, Befham, Hand of the Alex, shipwreck321, StarkStruckk11, LittleNK, Soaring Hawk1, XxXLIFEafterDeathXxX, MissLaufeyson, lepursmeow, rene, 0netflixme0, Sparky She-Demon **(I hope this chapter answered the question in your review)**, lilo23 **(so you want M rated sex scenes? I'll see what I can do, but warning, I don't usually write sex scenes - I get scared that some kid is going to stumble on it and I'll traumatise them)**, harpermill **(read the previous reply)**, Lucy Greenhill, alexceasar, jedi-stark **(respect to the jedi)**, xenocanaan, Guest **(I'm going to reply to your review below so please read), **aorangeinboston** (are there not many oranges in boston then?)**,** AND** My mother is a koala **(dude, I love your username! I laughed for about five minutes at it)**!**

Okay to address a few concerns brought up by a Guest reviewer that though Caryssa was a pretty terrible Mary Sue (I read up on what a Mary Sue was, and thought that it was pretty ridiculous tbh) and I've come to the conclusion that a Mary Sue is literally just a female character who is deemed **too **strong. Like for instance, Caryssa is considered a Mary Sue because she's beautiful and smart and can fight (though she only uses a bow and a knife - she can't really wield a sword, she just carries one around as a deterrent) and **studies **healing. Yet Tolkein's character, Aragorn, from the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a great swordsman, archer, and healer, as well as romantic interest of two women and the heir to the greatest kingdom of Men in Middle Earth...yet he is not considered a 'Mary Sue'. It seems to me that even in writing we've created a sort of cage to confine female characters. I say that we should write our female characters however we want! If we want them to ride into war, they should! If we want them to make men fall at their feet, they should! If we want them to be both beautiful and incredibly intelligent, they should!

So to conclude that massive ramble, I'm going to continue writing Caryssa the way she is. She's going to be able to defend herself, she's going to be beautiful than most other women in Westeros, she's going to make Jaime fall madly in love with her and she's going to be smart. I'm sorry if that makes her seem 'too perfect' or whatever. Caryssa has flaws. She's cold to pretty much everyone who isn't someone she trusts, she's stubborn and a little self-destructive and there'll be more flaws that will come apparent in later chapters, but I don't want to make her too flawed either.

So I'm sorry for the large rant, and congratulations to all who read it all, you are my kind of people!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that you look forward to the next,

SophStratt.

P.S, for any French readers, a reader of this story, eva2410, has translated She Runs With Wolves and Lions into French for you, so go check that out and review it!


	7. Seven Hells

**The most wasted of all days**

**is one without laughter**

**- E. E. Cummings**

* * *

**Chapter Seven - Seven Hells**

**Winterfell**

In the days that followed Bran's fall, he had been moved to his room, where his mother stayed firmly at his side, never being persuaded to leave for sleep or food. The rest of his family lived out their day-to-day lives, though there was no laughter heard in Winterfell anymore. The little lord seemed to have taken all that with him the day he had fallen.

Ned Stark was worried for his son, for his wife and for his eldest daughter, who, like her mother, had slept and eaten very little since his son's accident. Caryssa had been dividing her time between trying to find something to wake Bran with in the medical texts that belonged to the Maester, tending to her younger siblings' needs, training with her brothers, helping her father see to their Southern guests and praying in the Godswood.

Everyone, even Winterfell's guests, could see the light in the Northern Nightingale's eyes had been dimmed significantly. While she had always come across as slightly standoffish and proud, there had always been a fire in her that was visible to all who came across her. It was just a gentle fire that burned slowly, slowly building. Before her brother had fallen, that fire, at times, could build into a raging inferno if provoked, but it seemed that her fire had been doused, leaving behind only burning embers.

Caryssa was less concerned about herself, and feared only for her brother's life, and obsessed over what had caused him to fall. Never had he fallen. Through wind, through rain, even through snow, her brother had never slipped nor fallen whilst climbing. He had the surest feet in the whole of the North. Something had caused him to fall, but she had never voiced that paranoid thought aloud.

Her days began to feel repetitive. In the mornings, she headed to the Godswood and prayed before she would wake Rickon and Arya, get them ready to break fast, make sure everyone else, including their guests, were fed, before she would depart and oversee the management of the house, and at midday, she would go to the healing rooms and try to find some herb or plant that the Maester had missed that would help wake her little lost wolf. In the afternoons, she would make sure the children had attended their lessons before training with Jory, Robb, Jon and Theon. Once she was done there, she would oversee the dinner feasts and then head to Bran's room, where she spent the night watching over her sleeping brother with their mother.

Catelyn and Caryssa had grown even closer during this ordeal, forming an alliance against Ned and Maester Luwin when the two men would insist they go and get some rest, perhaps something to eat. In their eyes, they had failed Bran. Catelyn believed that if she had been stricter with him and his climbing, he would have listened to her about not climbing and he would not be a cripple, should he live at all. Caryssa believed that if she had not left to hunt with the men, if she could only have been content with living the life of an ordinary lady, then maybe she would have been there to watch over him, make sure he did not act so recklessly. Both women believed that they had much to atone for, and so seemed to punish themselves by not sleeping and starving themselves.

Yet nothing could persuade them to change their habits, or at least Caryssa's habits, until one man finally took action. She had brought Rickon and Arya to break their fast with the rest of their family and the king and his family, a rare sight as the families usually ate apart, and made to leave when an arm snaked around her waist, stopping her.

Caryssa turned her head and glared at the man who belonged to the arm gripping her middle, and he did not show that her anger bothered him in the slightest. He pulled her down onto the bench, and put a plate of food in front of her. Just a roll of bread and a goblet of water, since he knew that her starving stomach would not be able to take much more than that.

"Sit down and eat." Jaime ordered, not caring about any gentlemanly airs or graces. Caryssa just stared at him, wondering why he was doing this, before shaking her head.

"You are wasting my time, Ser Jaime. I am not hungry and I have things to attend to. So if you'll excuse me." She said, as she tried to get up again, but this time the king spoke up. He had not intervened with her self-destructive ways as he felt it was Ned's place, but clearly the girl refused to listen to her father's reasoning, so he decided to pull rank on her as king.

"You will sit down and eat, girl. We can't have you wasting away into nothing. You'll be no use to your brother if you're dead." The king snapped at her, and Caryssa lowered her eyes to the plate in front of her for a second, feeling like a scolded child, but raised her head, her eyes narrowed into a harsh glare, and began to eat. Everyone else began to eat, as soon as they were certain she had, but the table remained quiet. The adults were silent because of the tension in the room, and the children were silent because they were simply afraid to speak without angering someone, particularly the practically growling she-wolf.

"Lady Caryssa, are there any signs that the boy is going to wake?" Tyrion questioned, the only one who seemed to be brave or bold enough to talk about the broken wolf pup in his sick bed.

"The Maester says that he is unsure when Bran will wake. My mother and I try to make him as comfortable as we can, but there is not much we can do but wait." Caryssa answered after a long pause, her voice quiet and her eyes on her goblet of water.

"Maester Luwin tells me that you spend your afternoons in the healing rooms, surrounded by books. Why not the library? Is that not a better place for reading?"

"The books on healing are in the healing rooms, Lord Tyrion. I have no need of the library tower when the books I desire are not there." Caryssa remarked, her eyes flickering to him, an almost dark fire, just barely simmering, burning inside the bright blue orbs.

The little lion was going to ask one more question when it appeared the she-wolf had enough of their tense-filled conversation.

She finished the roll of bread, and drained her glass of water, smacking the goblet down hard onto the table, before she climbed to her feet, gave a low, mocking curtsey to her king and lord father and quickly left, without any words to her family, her betrothed or her king as she did so.

"That girl's temper is enough to frighten armies." Robert said to his old friend, who nodded to his words. His daughter did not have a quick temper by any means, but should she feel threatened or pushed, there was a rage inside her ready to be released.

"She disrespected her king." Cersei snapped, with a scowl on her face.

"She meant no disrespect, Your Grace. My sister is under a lot of stress." Robb quickly stated, coming to the aid of his sister, knowing that she could be punished for something as trivial as mocking the King.

"Don't shit yourself, boy. I know she didn't mean it. She's a Stark. You're a stubborn lot, and your women have worse tempers than Baratheon men." The King said, guffawing at his own words. Ours is the Fury were the words of House Baratheon, but Robert could tell that the Stark girl, the double of his Lyanna, could rival even his temper if pushed.

"She's a she-wolf, Your Grace. When one of the pack is under threat, the she-wolves become dangerous and deadly to all." Ned said, and Robert nodded his head, his eyes misting over as his mind fled to his memories of his own Stark love. Lyanna had a fierceness in her that only flared up when her family was threatened.

"Caryssa is strong," Cersei mused, and Jaime could see the cogs turning in his sister's head. Their eyes connected, and he shook his head so slightly that only she would have caught it. "She has taken on the management of your house, and the care of your youngest children, as well as helping in the care of your boy. She'll make a dutiful wife for my brother."

"Lucky me. I've always wanted a dutiful wife." Jaime said sarcastically, a sour look on his face as he looked at his sister still. Ned Stark looked at the Kingslayer with contempt in his eyes. He had taken Jaime's words as an insult to his daughter, rather than the intended insult to his sister. Yet it wasn't the Lord Stark who voiced his take on the imagined slight.

"You could do no better than my sister, Lannister. She's better than any man deserves." Robb said, glaring at the golden haired lion with as much fury as the young wolf could muster, though he did nothing but spark the lion's amusement.

"I hope I did not offend. Your sister is a remarkable woman, I admit, but she doesn't need you to champion her cause. I'm fairly certain she could do that herself." Jaime remarked, and Robb's anger seemed to dissipate slightly at the kingslayer's words, which only made the golden man smirk at the younger man.

Robb spent the rest of breakfast, glaring at his bacon, and visualising the many ways he could kill his sister's betrothed and not suffer the consequences of the murder.

"I like Lady Caryssa. She's not like the rest of the simpering roses you find in the capital. There's a real fire in her…or was." Tyrion said, as he sipped wine from his goblet, his eyes on his brother. He had watched Jaime the entire time his betrothed was in the room, and while there was his usual uncaring, sarcastic glee in his eyes, there was a hint of concern for the woman.

Tyrion was beginning to believe that the Lady Caryssa must be some sort of enchantress or sorceress or siren or something, as his brother was slowly becoming bewitched. Though truthfully, he was just thankful that his brother and sister were no longer involved with each other. It was one less secret that he had to worry about someone stumbling across. If only Cersei was smart enough not to get involved with their cousin, the Stark boy would probably not be crippled in his bed.

"If anything, my lord, I believe that my brother's fall has only stoked the fire in my sister." Robb said, and all around the table silenced again, thinking through the implications of the young wolf's words.

* * *

"Lady Caryssa, please take some rest. Bran's awakening is not dependent on you and your mother harming yourselves." Maester Luwin said, as he followed the young woman he had helped bring into this world as she rushed about the castle, seeing to the overall running of the household.

"My mother sits by Bran's side all day and all night, and my father spends most of his time with Robb, making sure that he is ready to take on the responsibilities as the Lord of Winterfell when we go to King's Landing, which leaves my mother's role as the lady of the house up to me," Caryssa said, pausing as she stopped a kitchen hand to bring up another barrel of ale as the ones they had were getting low. Lord Tyrion truly did drink all night and was putting a massive strain on their supply of ale. "I have a million and one tasks to complete, along with looking after Rickon, Arya and Sansa, and completing my own duties. It is too much for one person, yet I have no choice because if I stop…"

It was then that Maester Luwin saw that the she-wolf was truly fearful for her brother's life, and was distracting herself by any means possible from the horrible thought that he may not live.

"If I stop, then my mind begins to wander to dark places it does not belong and I begin to question things that are too dangerous to even question inside the safety of my head." Caryssa said, as they stopped in one of the corridors.

"Such as what, my lady?"

"Such things can not be spoken of out in the open. Or at all. Like I said, they are too dangerous and I am too busy. If I promise to sleep for a while in the afternoon, will you watch the children?" Caryssa questioned, and a smile spread across the old man's face.

"Of course, my lady."

Caryssa paused a moment, thinking her next question through fully in her head before she voiced it aloud.

"What do you think of Ser Jaime, Maester Luwin? They say he is a man without honour, the terrible Kingslayer…what say you?" She questioned, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinised his face.

Caryssa's instincts on when a man was lying to her had always been pretty sharp, but Maester Luwin had either never told her a lie, or was very skilled at hiding when he was. He was a very hard man to read.

"I believe that deep down he is a good man, and that we cannot truly understand his motivations for his actions in the event you speak of as he has never given any to my knowledge. If you are worried about your betrothal, I am certain the king will postpone the wedding until you are ready." Maester Luwin replied, and Caryssa could see the concern in his eyes.

Caryssa shook her head with a sad smile. She was not sad that she was marrying Ser Jaime, or about her impending marriage in general. She had long ago accepted that a man worthy of her would come for her one day, but she did not know Ser Jaime all that well, nor had it come at an opportune time. She was needed in her household, she didn't want to leave them now.

"Father and the king wish for us to be married as soon as possible. My wedding will be a couple of weeks after we reach King's Landing," Caryssa replied, and tried to make her smile seem more real, but with her brother on his sick bed, still appearing to be asleep, it only came across as a twisted grimace. "I'm not worried about Ser Jaime at any rate. I'm sure he'll make a good enough husband."

"Then why do you ask?"

"You have guided my parents through their marriage, and their trials and troubles, and I trust your counsel above nearly all others…I simply wanted your judgement. I would not want to marry and not receive your judgement of my betrothed." She actually managed to smile for him this time, though it lacked the warmth her smiles usually held.

"Oh child, sometimes I feel unworthy of the high esteem in which you hold me," The old man said, returning her smile, before he gestured at some of the papers in her hands. "What are those?"

"I was taking inventory before you arrived. This visit from the king has really put our stock under strain. These are lists of things that we need to order before I leave for King's Landing so that those in Winterfell won't end up starving and freezing in the absence of my father and myself."

"This is the steward's job." Luwin said, as he took the lists out of her hands, looking them over herself.

"I know, but I want to be sure that I've taken care of everything. I don't want to leave Robb any stress." Caryssa said, as she held her hand out for him to give her back her lists, but the old man shook his head. He had had enough of Caryssa taking on more than she could handle in her sleep deprived and emotional state.

"My lady, leave this to Poole while he is here, I will deal with the rest of your tasks today. As the maester, and an old man who loves you as dearly as he would his own, I am telling you to rest in your rooms for the rest of the day," Maester Luwin said, hurrying on when it looked like the young woman was going to protest his orders. "Do I need to escort you to your chambers or will you be able to find your way there yourself?"

"No need, Maester Luwin, I'll escort her." A quiet, but gruff voice said, and Caryssa turned around to see Jon standing behind her, the same sadness in his eyes that reflected the looks in all of her families faces.

Caryssa wanted to argue, but as soon as she knew that Luwin would take her duties off of her hands for the day and seeing the worry in her younger brother's eyes, her lack of sleep seemed to spring to the forefront of her mind. She had not slept for nearly a week now, and that realisation seemed to make her nearly fall asleep where she stood.

So she nodded, and took Jon's hand, leaning in to his body for support and let him lead her down the corridors and hallways to her room, where he put her into bed, taking her boots off for her. Her younger brother tucked her under furs, pressed a loving kiss to her brow and drew the shutters so the room was somewhat darker.

He had not even left the room when the gentle, barely audible snores drifted from his now unconscious half-sister. Jon Snow smiled at the eldest Stark girl, a grim, worried smile, but the first one he had smiled since his brother's fall. Watching her a moment, he realised that the only time his sister truly looked at peace was when she was fast asleep, and thought it a tragedy.

* * *

**A/N:**

Hi guys!

So I changed my updating days. I'm only going to update this story on a Saturday now. I think it'll give me more time to write the next chapter and you guys more time to read and review. So yeah, expect updates on Saturdays from now on!

Thank you to all of you who read my rant last week. I admit it was a rant. It was fueled by frustration brought on by unfair guest reviews and a particularly bad day, but most of you guys were pretty cool about it. Those of you who agreed with me, thank you for the support. To those who didn't, I apologize if my views offended you or angered any of you.

I just wanted to give a big thanks to a reviewer of the last chapter who made me feel so much better about this story and my OC, and after reading a rather annoying guest review yesterday, I went back and read their review and it made my day again. I really hope **aorangeinboston** doesn't mind me posting part of their review here, but I think it'll help explain how I view my OC, and why I'm so tired of people calling her a 'Mary Sue' (which in my opinion is a ridiculous, sexist and stupid thing to class a character as), because their words were what was pretty much in my head the whole time I was creating Caryssa Stark.

_"On that whole Mary Sue thing, usually a Mary Sue in this setting (but really in any setting) is someone who doesn't have motive, or cause behind their personality or actions. Caryssa can fight because she trains, which is caused by her father not wanting her to end up like his sister. She works hard at what she does and her skills aren't a mystery or hidden secret. They've developed from natural hard work. She's beautiful because I mean any child of Ned and Cat is gonna be a friggin' bomb shell, but she also doesn't use that as her defining tool or weapon. Cersei is beautiful and knows it, and believes thats her only weapon that she has."_

Caryssa fights because her father insisted upon it, not wanting his daughter (who is practically his sister's ghost in physical form) to end up like his sister, and she trains hard to be as great as she is. Hard training, not just skill that has appeared from nowhere. I also would like to point out that Caryssa would not be the only female fighter in the Game of Thrones-verse; there's Brienne of Tarth, Asha Greyjoy, and several Targaryen women (Queen Visenya, Queen Rhaenys, Queen Daena Targaryen also known as 'Daena the Defiant', amongst others). She's smart because she took her lessons with Septa Mordane as a girl seriously. She's beautiful because she has good genetics. I mean, Sansa is gorgeous, and so is Catelyn, and Ned's sister Lyanna was beautiful enough to turn both the heads of Robert Baratheon and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, so why is it inconceivable for Caryssa to also be strikingly beautiful? It's just good genetics, no witchcraft, no foul play, just simple genetics. She also doesn't manipulate her beauty into something that can work for her. She doesn't really even acknowledge it as something worth having. Beauty is more of a curse to her than a gift, because men in this sort of time and world are more lecherous than they are noble. So a beautiful woman isn't exactly going to be safe in this time. Sansa herself was almost raped when walking about in Flea Bottom in King's Landing. So in my opinion, Caryssa isn't really a Mary Sue, and I'm just going to delete any reviews from people who just bash my OC without giving me any constructive criticism or advice on how to develop her (I'm not going to say improve, because I don't think there's anything wrong with her).

Now that I have that out of the way, I would like to thank everyone who read, liked and followed since the last chapter.

And a big shout out to ALL of those who reviewed since the last chapter:

**eva2410, aorangeinboston **(seriously thank you so much, your review both made me feel better and made me laugh and made me want to visit Boston)**, Sparky She-Demon, Befham **(thank you so much for your support - means the world, seriously)**, caseylu** (hope this explains some things. Cersei, upon the end of her and Jaime's physical relationship started her affair with Lancel, her cousin, a lot earlier than in the books/tv show. He was the one to push Bran, after Cersei ordered him to)**, Hand of the Alex, HermioneandMarcus **(do you ship Hermione and Marcus together? I've never seen that pairing before)**, xenocanaan, 0netflixme0, AnImEfAN506, shipwreck321, LittleNK **(yeah, it sucked so bad, but I think I'm getting there again)**, Lucy Greenhill **(THANK YOU! I mean it just makes no sense for female OC's to be labelled as something negative, right?)**, StrixChuu,** (thank you so much!)**, danceegirl92 **(hope this chapter explains it, I kinda glossed over that fact a bit, but I will add a Cersei POV when Bran wakes up to explain it better)**, Shelley421** (hope this satisfied your curiosity)**, jedi-stark** (dude, thank you so much. I'm awfully tempted to make a Star Wars reference but I'll keep my geekiness to a minimum)**, guest** (I want you to know that my rants are not about you. You are a good guest reviewer)**, Alice** (so are you. Thank you!)**, StarkStruck11 **(it is lame, isn't it? thank you for your review!)**, purple sky always **(Most of Jaime's actions are going to be the same, but his motivations will be different. He won't be doing things in the name of Cersei, it'll be for his family and for Caryssa (eventually). Tyrion will be a major reason for Jaime's decisions as well)**, starrysky7 and 'Guestie'** (thank you for your review, but I don't agree with pretty much most of what you said and don't call me sweetheart. It came across as your patronizing me and I got quite offended by the tone of your review).

Thank you all for your reviews. You guys are literally awesome personified into beautiful people!

I hope you liked this chapter, and come back next Saturday for the next installment :)

SophStratt

xx


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